# 1.4 The writing journey starts

Figure 6

It’s helpful to listen to what other writers have to say about the wish to write, but it is also important to listen to yourself too.

## Activity 1.2 Why write?

Does any of what the novelists say in Why writers write resonate with your own feelings and experiences of why you want to write?

Note down some of their responses in relation to your own motivations and reasons for wanting to write. Ask yourself:

- What were the similarities in their respective journeys towards writing?
- How much did fact mix with fiction in the way their own life experience and personal circumstance influenced them as writers?
- What elements of your life experience and personal circumstance do you think might influence your writing?

OpenLearn - Start writing fiction: characters and stories
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