Welcome to the Elsewhere, where my goal is to share with you, my few readers, what little I know about writing. Or maybe it's to simply get it off my chest, never mind if these words find home or purpose our use. Maybe it's just to keep me entertained while I practice my typing, or some hope of entertaining you.

In a way, this mirrors the same reasons I write. I'm not saying all writers write for the same reasons. If anything, the only thing I can say with any assurance is that no two writers write for the exactly same reasons. None.

However, I was talking with another writer about why I write, why he writes, and our needing to write. Yes, it's a need. No, it's not life-critical. I can see myself living out the rest of my life and never penning or telling another story.

I'd either be comatose or in a persistent vegetative state.

For me, storytelling is a need. A story idea seizes me and refuses to let me go. I am faced with few choices -- I can carry my life as if it wasn't there, and hope I forget it. I can make a half-arsed attempt to share it, perhaps just by telling my friends about it. Or, I can write it.

However, for me, scratching my itch is not the only goal. See, if I only wrote for me, I'd likely be the only person to want to read it. I need to write, but I cannot let my need to express myself overshadow the requirement that it be readable.

So, it becomes a matter of priorities vs. needs. My need is to get the idea out of me, onto paper (or screen.) I want to have fun doing it -- I work 40+ hours a week, and this is what I try to do for fun. When I do it, anyhow. I want the story to have soemthing memorable about it. And, lastly, I would like it not to be an utter drudge to read.

My priorites are almost the exact opposite order. I know if it's not fun to read, the reader won't be one for long. After that, I'd like it to be somehow memorable. A good line, a good character, a good point, or even just a good feeling after finishing it. Beyond that, I want to be sure to have fun writing it. The first need isn't even a priority -- I am writing it already, so I'm fulfilling the base need for exorcism.

See, my need to leave a legacy is greater than my need to entertain, but I know that if I don't entertain, I won't have a chance to leave that legacy, that meme. My need to have fun writing it is greater than my reader's need (in my eyes) because, if I'm not having fun writing the first draft, chances are, my readers are not likely to have fun reading it.

So, exorcism, author's enjoyment, legacy or reader's enjoyment. Why do you write, and are your priorities the same as your needs?