Café Session # 1 - Defacto Opening

[Insert pretty graphic and title here; I swear something pretty will be done soon.]

Hey guys. I'm really sorry for the delay. Like, there's no excuses. I'm terrible.

Welcome to the first Café Session. This one will be reaallly simple and easy. As time goes on, we'll be tackling more complex subjects and themes. But for now, we're doing this.

Why did you begin writing? That's the first question posed for you guys. Why did you begin writing? Is it some hobby? A way to relieve stress? Do you plan to pursue writing? Tell us all the juicy details.

Moreover, what motivates you to write? share with us. This is the place to discuss it. As fellow KHV writers, we should all share what makes us sit down on our computers and let the words begin flowing.


So come on in! Sit down and relax. Let's talk!

 

Aahhhhh..... A nice, warm literary coffee... Just what I needed for this chilly night. On to it, then:

Why did you begin writing?
I believe it was around a very sad period of my life. Heartbroken because of a silly crush, as I recall. And now, whenever I am struck by a spark of inspiration - which doesn't happen very often - my head starts piecing together ideas, words, et cetera. And no, I honestly do not see myself writing more seriously anytime soon. I merely treat it as some sort of a hobby, like you said.

What motivates you to write?
Where my motivation comes from? Let's see... It comes from nothing and nowhere. I think a more suitable expression would be "out of the blue", in the sense of producing/finding a reason to write on my own. Also, I don't write my poems for other people, much less for myself, oddly enough...

And that's about it. Feel free to ask anything you like.
Enjoy your hot beverages, estimated Beans.

EDIT: Oh, and Chev, there seems to be a 'you' missing on the second question. :B

 

I would say I was 10 years old when I started to write. It was really just an awkward time for me, I was pretty unhappy at times & just needed an outlet, so I started to write poetry. I didn't show them to anyone but I wrote quite a few, I remember. Unfortunately one of my sisters found my poems and made fun of me, so I promptly tore them up and discarded them. Looking back, I doubt they were very excellent, but I do wish I had saved them. Relics & all. I would write the occasional poems throughout the next few years, and actually tried a Kingdom Hearts III fanfiction, which I also deleted... it really seems like I have a problem with getting ashamed of my work and removing it 4ever xD

I stopped for a while after that but then, out of boredom I guess, decided to write a novelized version of a scene in a video game. I had long toyed with the idea of doing a novelization of the entire game so I wanted to try that before making any movements there. I found I really enjoyed it. I was very critical of it, though, and not very proud. I wanted to improve. That's what drove me to continue, I think. I'm a pretty slow writer I think, so since then I've only really started two other projects, but I would say the drive to improve is the biggest motivator for me.

 

Ooh, what a topic to be covering on the first session.

Well, I started writing poetry back in ninth grade (about 14 yrs old) in this little notebook (that I still have actually) to vent about my feelings for my first crush (whether it was about my shyness and fear of even speaking to him or the fact that the love was completely unrequited from the start) or to vent about the pain I felt when people would constantly make fun of me for being "a nerd" and/or "different". As time went by and KHV fanfics became all the rage, I decided to try my hand at writing an actual story. From there, I suppose it sort of snowballed into the fanfiction phase (if you will) that I'm in right now.
Also, for anyone interested, I can post some of the stuff from the notebook if you'd like. People used to make fun and call it a diary, and I also used it for crappy sketches (mostly of the only character I could draw at the time: KHII blindfolded Riku), but yeah.

Personally, I get my motivation to write from a few places. The first would just be boredom, as I constantly need to be doing something, and writing is a great way to get those creative juices flowing. The second would be from personal experiences, like the ones I've mentioned above. The third would probably be from reading other people's work, as seeing someone write something great motivates me to do better and try something new (though PotS and PanS help too-shot-).

 

I began writing in the fifth grade. It was an assignment to write a story. In the end I just plucked a story I'd already had running around my head and through it down. For the next three years I didn't do much other than write out stuff whenever I got another story assignment. Then I got into high school and I still couldn't type. No, seriously. It took me a good minute to take down a single sentence much of the time. I couldn't stand that. So I decided I'd have to practice. So I wrote. I wrote the easiest thing that came to mind. Stories. I did write one or two fanfictions, a fact I'm really not proud of now that I look back. But from there I just decided that I needed to take down all my ideas. Big and small. So I just shuffled around, writing in my free time. It became a complete compulsion for that first year and the year after. I've posted more than 200,000 words worth of story on this site alone by rough estimates. Then I got into college and I ran out of time, now I'm just doing random shit.

Motivation... I usually lack it. But I force it by giving myself deadlines. I like posting because it gives me an update schedule and something to work towards. I think it's actually quite silly, but if it works 10% of the time it's better than nothing. I am also motivated by the fact that one day I won't remember any of this. People I know in real life call me creative. It's one of the few compliments I get and at times I feel like I really don't wanna lose that. I'm pretty ridiculous when it comes to writing, I guess. So that's all there really is to it.

 

I started writing some...3 years ago? maybe 4...5? I started because of a competition in schools all around the UK...The mean green poetry machine or something like that? But hey in school one of our lessons involed writing for it...And my poem was published in the book ^_^ I mean quite a few peoples was...But I was pretty happy with it ^_^

My motivation? Hmmm I like writing on request...and generally writing about things I'm passionate about :3 sudden bursts of creation, sudden emotions, that type of thing~ ^_^

EDIT: So everyone...In relation to that first question...Do you still have the first thing you wrote? Would you care to share? :3

 

Oh, man... I don't seem to recall what was it anymore. Can't even remember if it was a poem or a story, if it was in english or not. Sorry =/

But the oldest piece I can recall would be... Uhm... Twilit (www.kh-vids.net/showthread.php?125711), I believe, but you've already read it anyway.

Oh, and kudos for starting an interactive discussion! I wasn't really thinking this would evolve...

 

I started writing in about the second grade, iirc. Our teacher made us write a short little stint in our notebooks each morning, and we were encouraged to share them f we wanted to. Initially, mine started off being about one sentence a piece, but soon grew to cover the whole page and revolve around my friends and going to outer space and BEATING UP CANNIBALISTIC MARTIANS.

(I still have that notebook lmao. I can post some pictures later tonight.)

On motivation though, I tend to get motivated pretty easily for some things more than others (i.e. BotC and Cascadia). I think have the hardest time motivating myself to write original pieces, especially on the poetry front, because I frequently worry about what my theme/symbols/imagery will be and how to make it effective. Deadlines don't really help me, as I often wait until the day before to do assigned projects. But if it's something I want to write for myself, more often than not it's pretty easy to get pumped up and do.

 

I actually started writing probably when I was in 10th grade. I already had a tendency to go buy small little notebooks so I could write in them, whether it was just about my day or my own thoughts. But I actually started writing stories when I had to write a story for a college English course. It had to be like 12 pages long so I ended up writing a rather lame love story. <__< But that was what pretty much started it. At first my writing was really bad, but it eventually changed and I got better. Now I mainly use writing to probably just relieve a lot of stress I might hold and a lot of ideas as well, the reason I never seem to finish or keep on track with something. And out of everything I've written, I'm only proud of one, one-shot story, which was also a bit of a love story.

Music has become a rather big motivation. I always end up listening to a song that might have something to do with what I'm writing, so I just end up listening to that same song over and over and over again until I just lose interest. That sounds bad but it's always been like that for me. However, if it's not music then I just pretty much lack the motivation to really do much with what I want to write. When I do lack motivation, I always end up trying to find something that will bring it back, whether it's music, or possibly even a game.

 

I started writing when i was really young. I remember vivdly my brother and I would write stories together (lolnerdz), and particularly on one holiday to blgium we wrote a fair few which I won't post here because they're embarrassing.

I always really enjoyed writing stories for class, but because my writing is really small and I take a while to come up with ideas my teachers were a bit like "you need to write more B|", and at one point I actually got into trouble because I hadn't written enough and was told to write it out again. It turned out that the teacher wasn't satisfied with my writing being as small as it was that day which irked me.

After moving to high school when I was 13 (Scottish system lol) I started writing a little more. Unfortunately, creative writing (as in making up your own characters etc) wasn't really encouraged at school, we focused more on Personal and Reflective writing about taking lessons from life and stuff which I used to improve my craft with description and stuff ...

Last year I moved to a different scool where they allowed us more free reign to do in our writing. I did a few pieces there which I really enjoyed because I was able to actually create instread of rehash old past memories and extract some sort of tortured metaphor from them.

Of course more recently I've been working on fanfics and other short stories since I've had the time, but I definately think I have a lot of room to improve.

On the subject of motivation ... heh ... I don't have a lot of that. Sometimes I get struck by lightning and suddenly I can do a whole thing in a day to two ... but other times I have a block with stuff, I have that with a lot of things. I've been told it's just about writing a little every day and you get used to it but I just often feel really blocked about writing, as anyone who reads my fic would tell you it's kinda inconsistent qith updating (hoping to remedy that ...).

So yeah, that's my story :). I'm gonna read through these all tomorrow and maybe get some discussion going.

 

Owing to my... destructive tendencies when it comes to my early pieces, I don't. I could probably dig up some things, though...
These were written when I was 12 - 13. Don't laugh too hard at me because I'll cry B(

Spoiler

I do the same thing! Or, at least, something similar--I tend to listen to instrumentals when I write (songs with lyrics distract me). I find one that has a feel similar to the scene I'm writing, and use it to get me ~*~in the mood~*~.

 

While I do still have a hard copy of my fifth grade project sitting on my shelf about ten feet away I think I will pass on sharing. I try to move on from past phases of my writing and focus on the now rather than look back and realize either how bad I was or how little I've grown as a writer depending on the piece. I'm a forward looker. It really makes me a bit flighty and unreliable though.

@Everyonewhowastalkingaboutmusic: Music is really good for intensifying or creating a mood to write in. Though, I just like having background noise most of the time. One time I did hear a song that I basically started a story around. Which kinda reminds me for no reason at all that I was surprised at how many people seemed to be motivated by the release of emotion. I dunno why it surprised me since it's pretty common, it's just kind of a foreign to me since I write for my own amusement or to amuse others more than anything else.

Yeah, sorry for rambling like an idiot.

 

Actually, I do. Some of the first poems that I wrote are still buried in the Poetry and Lyrics section in an old thread I made.

http://kh-vids.net/showthread.php?110690-Poems-Inspired-By-My-Life

 

Ahhh, still need to upload the screens of my stuff. :x

On the music note though, p. much what Misty said applies to me as well. Whenever I am trying to get a certain mood down for the story, I always flip through my "WRITEZ MOOSIK" playlist on my iPod to find a song that helps me imagine what things in the story would be like better.

Most of that playlist is instrumentals, quite a number of them being songs by Emancipator. :B

 

Gosh, when did I start writing?

• If I can remember correctly, I started writing about the end of my first grade year, just as I was getting good at reading. There had been this book I read, "Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots", and it was such a great book to me, I loved reading it and I had wanted to write something like it, though I normally wasn't one to sit still and such. My cousin had a very old Mac that she would let me use, and I would type with two fingers - eventually, I began to get angry when I couldn't go fast enough to keep up with my ideas, so I just stuck to good old-fashioned paper and pencil, and that got the job done. I wrote all sorts of things, mostly fantasy and sci-fi; aliens and princesses that were princes and stuff.
  
  I remember I had made up a galaxy where the people of Zorgexio lived, and it was called the Talofo Spiral galaxy. Man, I wish I still had that stuff.
  
  Throughout the end of elementary school and through middle school, I had often attended sessions with a psychiatrist, having many familial issues and other such things going on in my life, even though I had been writing before she told me to, she said that it was a very good way to vent all of my feelings that I was either aware or unaware of. She said that, after reading some of my stuff, that my characters and settings reflected my struggles with life.

What motivates you to write?

• Usually, when I watch a movie or read a book or even listen to music, I get ideas that surround the media and then I twist them and turn them so much that a new idea is born. Other times, it could be an emotional trigger, at which point I shut off all communications with anyone, turn on some music and just start writing thoughts. eventually something with some sort of plot will form.

​

 

Why did you begin writing?

Hm... that is a rather tricky question. I'm not exactly sure why I began writing. The very first time I began writing could've been because of these following reasons:
-To release what I'm feeling onto the computer (not much of an artist, unfortunately)
-School assignment that spread its wings into something greater, and better
-Pure boredom really, looking for something to do, then a spark flashes and I begin to write

I'm going to go with the second one, seems the most reasonable. My middle school does tend to suffocate its students in writing assignments and whatnot, so my start most likely came from there.

What motivates you to write?

How I'm feeling really.

Like I said before, sometimes I write to release stress or strong feelings. As others have said, music is a big factor and can really influence how I'm feeling.

Sometimes I write for recognition, shamefully honest to say. I feel that I need some positive attention, and writing does that for me. Finish a portion, post it to KHV or wherever, and hopefully get a positive review that lifts my spirits.

Other than that, nothing else really...

sorry this post is so bland...

 

Language Arts in elementary school started me writing. But what's kept me writing is my love of books and a spot of envy. I've always been a bit jealous of author's writing ability and have wanted to create stories just as good.

My motivation comes and goes though. Sometimes, I feel like I can write forever, sometimes it feels like too much trouble. In the case of the former, someone always interuppts me and I lose motivation. It's very bad.

 

There's nothing to laugh at hon~ Honestly I really liked them, they were rather wonderful~ Really they are simple, but the simplicity makes it pretty effective~

I really enjoyed reading these too~ Sort of depressing for the most part but yet kind of uplifting at the same time...Really nice~


I guess it's fair for me to share my first...Apparently I was 13 when I wrote this~

Spoiler

Green grass, thousands of trees.
This is what the environment used to be.
But look what it has become.
From green grass to sewage,
From thousands of trees to stone cold buildings,
From a powerful shield called the ozone layer to melting ice caps,
From millions of whales to an endangered species.
Animals magically turn from friends to food,
From sunshine to rainy days,
From clean to toxic air.
Green grass, thousands of trees,
This is what our environment used to be,
But look at what it has become,
We are destroying it.

As for music...I simply cannot write while listening to music, it's too distracting for me unless I'm trying to write about the music~ Though today I made a poem without actually writing anything ^_^ just there on the spot to tell my girlfriend how much I love her~ I've never tried on the spot poetry so I'm rather glad it worked out...And I'm trying to write under certain circumstances so perhaps soon I'll be able to use music to fuel my inspiration~

 

I started writing primarily in high school, which was also when I really got into reading as well. My first few stories were fan fictions and I would start little original stories for the fun of it. I began writing to just put down my random ideas and share them with other people. It’s also an escape from reality for me, which is filled with a number of things that most people wouldn’t go through. It was also so much fun, creating these different realms of realities and the characters seem real to me.

Today, I’m motivated just to see how I can challenge myself next. I have two e-books done, and I wish to do more as I learn more about writing and creativity. It’s good to tackle something that I haven’t done before and see how well I do in that realm or genre. What also motivates me is knowing that people actually like my writings (even though I personally think my stuff is pure crap) because I enjoy entertaining others.