The answers were pretty obvious for me: I can't
not write, so I'd write whether anyone read it or not. But my "can't not write" is different from Wendy's. Wendy thought her writing career was over when
"I would stare at a screen and no words would come."
But that's my life as a writer. I see pictures and feel emotions that I have to translate into language. I never hear conversations in my head; there is no obliging muse who provides me with any words. I may see Lois and Clark, feel their emotions, and know what they are discussing, but I have to slowly, painfully pull every word out of my imagination as I translate vision into language. So I do an awful lot of staring at the screen with no words coming.
Nonetheless, however painful the writing is, I can't not do it. The ideas swell inside me, demanding expression, demanding that the characters and situations be birthed and brought to life. Just thinking about them is never enough, although that's what I do during those few months when I'm not actively writing.
Which brings me to question 2. Of course I would write if no one read my work, but that's impossible. Even if I were a lousy writer, my friends and family would obligingly read whatever I showed them. While lack of an audience wouldn't keep me from writing, for me, the presence of an audience is more than a "nice to have." The audience shapes my work. What do they already know? What do they expect? Will they understand this scientific situation, or will I have to explain it more? When have I given them enough to allow them to participate in the story, and when have I told them so much that they have nothing left to imagine?
Right now, I'm working with my GE, who has made a couple of comments like, "I don't know what you mean by this." If my writing were only for myself, I would ignore such points. But I write with an audience in mind because part of my need to write is an almost equally strong need to share what I write. That's probably why I almost always rewrite any point of confusion my BR or GE brings up. They're readers, and if they don't understand what I meant without my explaining it to them, neither will my other readers. That doesn't mean I only write to please my readers (in fact, I'm putting a warning on this story because not everyone will like it), but once I've decided what I'm writing, I write and edit with my readers in mind. After all, I can't share my writing if they don't get what I wrote.
