Writers:

[Robb]

Fellow writers, has participation in DU:

[liberalhistorian]

1. Actually, it was a very tough

choice between Fueling your Creative Spirit and a Research Boon. It's done both equally for me, but I'd have to say the fueling of my creative spirit wins out by a tiny margin.

I've discovered research sites and data I had no idea existed, and that have been fantastic material. Just one of the Fifty Thousand Reasons Why I Love DU!

Of course, there are plenty of times when it's cut into my writing time, as well!

[_Wayne_]

2. DU is a huge part of my writing career, and one of the main

reasons I am writing political editorials today. If not for DU, I doubt I would be this far along in my writing career (now getting paid writing for The Florida Times Union)

[liberalhistorian]

3. I wonder what the story is behind the person who voted

for Ruined my Career!

[WilliamPitt]

4. Helped me write three books

[ixion]

5. I never have the time to write these days

so DU is good for me in that it allows me to write something other than software. While it may not be the kind of writing I enjoy most (Fiction), it's better than writing status reports and tech docs.

[SOteric]

6. I cannot blame it on DU...

DU has at times fueled my imagination and inspired a metric buttload of words on a page.

At other times I let it distract me from what could be sessions productive spent building a career.

[wryter2000]

7. Not cut dramatically

But it has cut into my writing time. But then, the invasion of Iraq came as a tremendous emotional blow to me. I just could not believe that the country I grew up loving could do *that.* So, in some ways, DU has been psychotherapy. But it does take up writing time.

[eyesroll]

8. I write about cleaning for a living...

and I will occasionally post things in the lounge asking for recommendations, referrals, etc. I also will use DU as a jumping-off point for my blog.

So it's been a boon.

[Emboldened Chimp]

9. Fueled creativity

I write fiction (scripts) and DU has been a boon for its diversity of voices and opinions. That definitely helps with creating characters. Lord know we have quite a few of those here!

[skip fox]

10. CAPTIONing is great writing exercise!!

:toast:

[TrogL]

11. I've been using DU to hone my craft

I get frustrated at work when there's nothing to write (eg. user manuals, tech manuals, snotgrams) and I have aspirations of being a writer when I get too old for UNIX.

I need to get back to writing longer rants.

[FloridaJudy]

12. So it cut into my writing time

Big, fat, hairy deal.

It's not like anyone's going to PUBLISH the fool novel! It's not only blasphemous, but trite as well. Oh, wait: *The DaVinci Code* is on the best seller list...maybe there's hope for *The Hanged Man*!

If it weren't for DU, I'd probably be frittering away my time playing Civilization, SimCity or Leather Goddesses of Phobos (anything to get out of trying to figure out how two smart people find themselves in a deserted building stalked by a homocidal maniac).

[HEyHEY]

13. I would say it's helped keep my chops up

But, also it had me a bit burnedout for a little bit. I spent so much time here I was too tired to bother with anything else.

[oneighty]

14. I put ninty nine

of the little stories I wrote here in the lounge into book form, self published, fifteen copies. A DUer friend owns one copy. There is a copy in our local library,and A copy at the University where I used to work. Family has the rest of them. I am waiting to be discovered.

It isn't working, the waiting. But it sure is fun! I have another hundred or so stories more, they are waiting too.

180

[Nikia]

15. It gives me practice

I have been out of practice writing for a while. I used to write all the time, but somewhere along the way, I could not think of anything else to write about. I attended an intense creative writing class in a summer college class for gifted high school students. The only required reading besides short stories was a book about writing by a Buddhist Jew. She claimed that in order to write well, you just need to write. If you practice writing, you will write well, regardless if whether your practice writing is good or not. In time, your overall quality will improve. I am still writing for the improvement, but maybe I will become better when I stop worrying about getting better.

[grasswire]

16. hmmm

I wonder if that is the current thought on the teaching of writing. My sense is something different. I believe voracious reading from an early age is the best prep a writer could have. Someone could write and write and write, but without having read widely, how would that someone know what to strive for and how to recognize progress?

[Wolfman 11]

17. I think every sentence helps

even if it is about squirrels or Ohio State's football team

[Shanty Oilish]

18. No effect. I compartmentalize well.

I can write while we're talking. :) There's another computer to the right of this one, and a pad and pen on the left.
It's a blessing. People I enjoy listening to, the world's biggest library (sort of) at my fingertips, and a cupful of pens. Life is good. DU is good.