Do you write to be read or do you write to think?

Both. If you make me choose, mostly to be read. Heard.

When I am moved to write something in a passionate manner, I write to be read. When I write on Fluther, I mostly write to be read but also write to work through certain issues, for myself.

Depends on what I am writing. Sometimes I will write to think if my thoughts on something don’t seem clear. If I am writing, like on fluther to answer someones question than it is certainly to be read.
Sometimes I may even write just to remind myself of something. :)

To be read. I don’t enjoy writing, and it doesn’t help me think. I’ve never thought, ooooh, I need a new journal (although I have thought “that’s a pretty journal, and I’m sure if I buy it I’ll find a use for it other than writing…”) or decided to decline an invite out with friends to stay home and write. It’s just not my thing.

I write to communicate to others. I talk with others to help me think, to bounce ideas off of them.

I always imagine that someone I care about and whose opinion I value will be reading it and commenting on it. It’s not so necessary that it happens that way, but it’s the best motivator for me.

I can’t say I write purely to figure things out. I get to caught up in the nuances of expression to get it done in any reasonable time.

I write to be corrected.

I really do write.

I start out writing to be read, but the thinking I do while writing usually ends up taking over and I end up chucking the thing out because nobody wants to read about my thoughts: show, don’t tell.

I write here for the fun of it and the diversity of contribution.

I write for myself, for the fun of it.

I write for others to read, which makes me happy. ;-)

I write a lot to communicate my feelings… Sometimes when my husband and I are having an issue it’s so much easier for me to write it out than to vocalize what’s happening in my head… It usually helps prevent an unnecessary fight.

I also need to write to organize my thoughts. Sometimes I just have so much going on inside this head of mine that I can’t think straight… When I need to work out a problem I write things down. I also do it to work on my “self talk.” Something my therapist got me into a long time ago and I really liked it.

@CaptainHarley That’s what I was going to say…i mean write ;)

I write to clarify thoughts. I edit a lot when I write and that helps me get it right when I write.

I think I started out writing to be read, but somewhere along the way I discovered that by writing, my thinking developed. In speech, it’s more like shooting from the hip, and anything could come out, but writing forces some kind of discipline in how I think. I’m sure everyone will laugh at that, but that’s what it does for me.

Sometimes people tell me that they like my “essays.” They might say that an essay is well-written. It mystifies me a bit as to how that is possible, because when I start, I never know where I’m going to end. Which is why I write to think. Yet, somehow, I must know the points I want to cover and where I want to end. Or do I? If I write to think, then I don’t know where I will end up and I’m not quite sure where I want to go or what route I will take.

But somehow, these pieces of writing often end up somewhere satisfying or complete—or that’s what I think. No one ever said so. I think I write until I am satisfied with where I happen to be. That satisfaction is somewhat arbitrary. I could stop here, for example, or I could take a few steps more because I know there’s something else I want to say, although I don’t know what it is.

The process is more mysterious to me than I realized. It doesn’t feel like some external entity is feeding me words. The words that appear feel more like there is some inner secretary passing on information by teletype (it’s somewhat disjointed). I have the feeling that the inner secretary knows where this is going, but until I write, I won’t know.

As everyone knows, this process can take some time, and I end up with a lot of ground covered before I end up at some resting point. I’ve wondered, in the past, if I should be shortening these pieces. Everyone likes brevity, and internet attention spans are short. So, to please the readers, I should edit. That’s when I realized I was writing to see what I think. I don’t care to edit—too much time in a place where I already spend too much time. If I don’t care enough about readers to edit, then I must be writing to think.

Still, I do want people to read what I say. So it is a challenge to write to see what I think and yet to have the journey be interesting enough that others want to take a ride on the carriage. For me, that means I have to tell a story—a story that has an unknown and unpredictable ending (or stopping place, at least).

I do the same thing in real life. I participate in a number of situations where people take turns talking, and I always challenge myself to talk about what I want to talk about but in such a way that people can understand where I want to go (I hate it when people tell meandering and apparently pointless stories), but can’t figure out where I will get to. They can’t do this, because, as with writing, I don’t even know where I’m going. So I talk until it ends. The story ends, I mean. It almost always does, and it does it in such a surprising way that I never could have planned it. So it’s like I’m watching myself and I know the story will go along until I see a point that wraps it up, and then I press the stop button, and look around to see who’s still with me.

[STOP]

Of course, when writing, it’s a bit harder to see who is still on the carriage.

[No really. STOP!]

[Sometimes the button doesn’t work so well ;-)]

[I said S T O P!!!

Great question. Both, for certain. Sometimes writing helps me solidify my thoughts on a subject. Most of the time I’m writing with the hope my thoughts provide some level of useful value or humor for others.

Right now as a beginning writer I write to be read, however I sometimes feel I am writing to think also when my creative juices are flowing…I tend to think deeply on my articles content.