From Me to You

People always seem to think that writing should be for the writer's sake, and that the writer should be happy with the work regardless of what others think of it. That's right... to a point. Of course, there's striving for quality, which really can't be done by one's self, but that's not the only reason to share one's work.

I think it's important—maybe even more so—to let others enjoy it.

Now, to some extent, I do have a need to write every once in a while. Once I spend time beyond that on a story, though, what is it for? Maybe it's not necessarily wrong to just write a lot for my own enjoyment, but, when I think about it... Isn't it a little bit selfish? If it's exclusively about what I want, and I'm putting tons of my time and resources (and maybe even some others') into it just to have fun myself, wouldn't that seem a little self-centered? I could be spending that time helping people, or at least hanging out with them so the enjoyment is shared.

So I kind of feel obligated to share my writing. In my case, this is hardly a burden; in fact, I have trouble writing most things without some friends' feedback along the way. But that's not the case for every writer and every story, and I think we have a responsibility to let other readers in on the fun. Maybe it's just a silly story, and maybe it's more than rough around the edges, but someone out there could really enjoy it or even learn from it (whether that be a life lesson or just some material for mnemonics). And who am I to keep that from them?

I might have a weird way of looking at things, but how about you? Do you think a writer is obligated to share? Only under certain circumstances?