I start reading a lot of books. I don't finish nearly as many.
Yesterday, for some reason, I felt inclined to pull my old copy of Lord of the Rings off of the shelf and start reading. I have no idea how long it will take me to get through it again - probably about as long as the first time through...a couple weeks for Fellowship of the Ring, and then the duration of college for Two Towers and Return of the King.
While I was reading the note on the text and the forward to the second edition, I found an interesting note.
After his success writing The Hobbit, many readers were asking Tolkein to write a sequel. He was more interested in refining the underlying mythology and the legends which were referenced in The Hobbit. He was writing for himself. He was delving into linguistics and background history for Middle Earth. About this approach, he wrote:
I desired to do this for my own satisfaction, and I had little hope that other people would be interested in this work.
He was working for his own satisfaction, regardless of what other people wanted
But he still cared about the opinions of others:
When those whose advice and opinion I sought corrected little hope to no hope, I went back to the sequel, encouraged by requests from readers for more information concerning hobbits and their adventures.
People create for many reasons. We create for our own satisfaction, no matter what anyone else thinks. But at the same time, I can't help but think that any creative endeavor is meant to be shared. But what if nobody is interested? Do you continue? Do you adapt?
I have recently been reading multiple books and blogs, listening to podcasts about the creative process and what drives people to create. Reading the Foreward to the Second Edition yesterday resonated with me for some reason, and I wanted to share it.