Just popped in to check how the poll was going, and I haven't read through everyone's responses yet, but I wanted to say -- for the second question, I voted that I would probably keep writing, but it wouldn't be as much fun. And that's not exactly it. I will keep on making up stories; I can't avoid that, really. There's always that "what if" machine churning away; most of the stuff isn't useful, but every once in a while I get something I like enough to pursue.
With an appreciative audience waiting, I'll do the hard work to get all the plot details worked out and write the transitions between scenes. Without one... I'd probably only write "the good parts" -- the scenes that show up demanding to be written. I'd write those, but not worry too much about continuing the story or transitioning between scenes; I know all that stuff, so why bore myself by repeating it?
At any rate, that's how I used to write, before I had an audience. I'd create elaborate landscapes and lots of characters, and have lots of thrilling plots... and very little of it got written down, beyond notes and lists and "the good parts". (And houseplans. For some reason I really liked drawing houseplans
) Maybe it'd be different now, since I've had all this experience and have a higher standard to shoot for. But I think having an audience makes a big difference in how hard I work at telling a story. They keep me from taking shortcuts, I guess.
I don't know if that makes me a "writer" by your standards, Lynn. But I know I am a story-teller, and writing is my preferred medium. And I figure that's good enough to go on with.
PJ
