Creativity: What motivates you to write/draw/make music/make videos/etc?

Contra(dictory)

also I hang out here, I guess
I'm merely a writer, but I'm motivated to write because for me, it's the easiest way I can use my imagination to create something people like. I write for the feedback and the feeling of self-improvement from story to story.

What motivates you in your chosen craft? Any form of creativity is welcome in this thread.
 
for writing I generally get ideas/motivation from watching television, listening to music, pretty much bouncing ideas off of existing ideas to see how I think they would hold up
then I put the pieces together

same goes for drawing

for photography I tend to set something up and get as many angles as possible, then pick out the best shots of the lot
 
The only sort of creativity I have is with writing. I wish I could draw, but I just don't see myself getting any better.

Anyways, usually what inspires me is pick ideas lying around in my brain and toy with them enough where they fall in place and make a plot I can work with. Sometimes I construct a story backwards, where I know how it is going to end, but not how it's going to begin, or sometimes I start in the middle and slowly get more of the ending and the beginning figured out. I'm pretty flexible of how I come up with plot.
 
improving at drawing is the easy part imo, easier than coming up with good ideas I find

in order to help improve drawing skill I find it easiest to directly copy a picture, another drawing (typically out of an instructional book on drawing) works best, but if your practiced you can try a photo
 
Ideas and stories hit me and I feel the need to share them. When I started writing Mario fanfiction, the main driver behind my work was to try and share my ideas about character backgrounds and other unexplained things about the series (almost self-serving in a way), but that morphed into wanting to share stories for the sake of the stories (a purer motivation than the initial one). And, once stories have started, not wanting to feel like a quitter or let the readers down by giving up and never finishing is a huge motivator, but not really an inspiration.

Of course, there's the fact that I enjoy the writing process too. My best writing experience hands-down was a fanfic idea randomly popping into my head one day and refusing to let me concentrate on anything else until I had hammered it out. I published it and want people to read it and love getting reviews and all that, but while I was writing it, I was writing it for me. It was the most fun, most incendiary and most satisfying writing experience I've ever had, and I hope I'll have more like it.
 
Dreams and ideas which spark and interest (ie, when I think 'what if?' about something it might cause me to write something)
 
I do what I do (play the ocarina and write, primarily) because I enjoy doing it, and I enjoy not doing the things I have an obligation to do (for a time, at least).
 
I just do.

I like seeing Mario characters in unusual, comedic, and sometimes unfitting situations. So, I draw them. I do some writing fiction (again, about Mario characters; I'm never a fan of original characters; why make original characters when Nintendo have provided so much nearly empty slates to work off?) but there are times where I don't work on continuing my writing for years. I also can't find the time to draw when I'm on the computer or playing video games, so drawing is much of a hobby.

My sister's and my Mario headcannons are pretty sophisticated, though.
 
I've always been fascinated by adventures and the Apocalypse and mideviel times and religious beliefs so my stories contain at least one of the four.
My art usually has no colors and are silly things, such as raccoons playing basketball
My music goes with my current mood, but I like slow songs the most
 
whenever i just enjoy something and my mind starts going creative directions with it. it's thinking "what if?" that makes my imagine clever things

for example, thinking of what would happen if a battlestar fought a star destroyer. that just gets me motivated to make a detailed analysis of their specs. or maybe a crossover fic.

ooh, crossover sci-fi fic. i should write that one down
 

Disregard the last line.

I like posting this video and its sequel at generally trivial opportunities.
 
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