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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/47357
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/47357
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

> When I was in high school, a friend and I wandered together downtown and came across a psychic's booth. Out of curiosity, we stepped inside. We were both writers, she told us. My friend wrote for herself and it didn't matter to her if others saw it. But I was different. I wrote for others to see. No magic required; she nailed it.

I've kept a diary on and off, though even there I have fantasies that one day people will care about my inner life. And I've written first drafts that never turned into second drafts. But mostly everything I write is with an eye to sharing it with others.

I wasn't ready for publication when I was younger (aside from a few small things) but I didn't want to write things no one would see. Chris talks about changing his view of writing that wasn't going to go anywhere. This wasn't my path. You can consider this a bit of a frame challenge to the question; my approach was to change my writing.

I started an email mailing list which was a support group for people with a particular health issue (before that, I did it on USENET). When the world wide web began, I started a website and published new material plus the best of the emails (mine, or others' with permission). Now I've done several websites and a blog too, and am active on other mailing lists. I'm not great about keeping stuff up to date, but all the different things I do add up.

A year ago I found StackExchange and I've spent quite a lot of hours writing up answers, mostly here and on Worldbuilding. Researching issues I'd never considered researching before. It's all helped me to become a better writer. Both in honing my prose and in incorporating research.

Prose isn't fiction though and fiction is where I'm aiming. Even so, I've found writing the huge number of (semi) polished email or web posts to be helpful. How do I tell a story of something that happened? (does it matter so much to my writing if the story is real or made up?) How do I use research facts without overwhelming the audience? In what ways can I evoke emotion in my readers? How can I shorten this piece without losing anything important? Crafting over and over again. And then just practice in sitting down and finishing something.

What is the point of writing something that won't be read? Find the point. Find what inspires you to keep going. If all the things that others here have written about aren't enough for you, then reframe the problem. Practice your writing but do it in a way that sustains you.

Original score: 5