How do you feel about the notion "write for yourself"?

I've read this in many places. This is on the back of me reviewing a bunch of things I found wrong about my old work, and being excited to work on a new draft of it. It's things obviously plucked from elsewhere (ncluding Tolkien!), but it's still *my take* on it. I've tried to bastardize the things I found interesting from it in a different way, and I think it's it's way better.<br><br>I can understand it from the perspective of "you can't try and pander to an audience you don't know" (you can't pluck people from the void and ask them out of thin air "what things do you like and dislike about the topic this work details").<br><br>But I still find it weird to just "write for myself". I mean, I'm never going to read it. I already know what's going to happen. I'm the person whose written it and read it about five times already. Do I really only write to show it off to others? If so, I guess, that's fine, it's all for fun anyway. It's not like I'm making money from it, I don't have to worry about the publishers or marketing team... it's just for fun.<br><br>Do I just write for the joy of it? I'm a little OCD and I only write in drafts, and I feel like I've a little voice in the back of my head telling me to complete it. I feel like it'd be unsatisfying to not finish my work - in the same way I feel unfulfilled by an unbalanced meal or blue blister that doesn't heal.<br><br>Do I write for the joy of the people it reaches? I haven't put any of my work out there (I've been going over it so much that I've just ignored that aspect of things), but I suppose that will be the next step soon enough. Should I write for them? Should I write for myself? Do I write because I feel gratification? Well obviously, that's the real reason for anything. But should I write for myself, or for my readers?<br><br>What's your most likely answer to this question?<br><br><br>Edit: I just wanted to quickly mention the responses I've found helpful (so far). There's a nice little balance of it's for yourself/ the people who read it/ it's for fun.<br><br>[sorry if I miss yours, it's early in the morning and I'm a dumb-ass dawdle]<br><br>u/tenmilecreek - yeah, I think it's for fun. But I think it's also to just move beyond the anxiety/ self-doubt of creating something.<br><br>u/YesIAmaLoli - I think you it's for both. You can't really write for the people, because you don't know who they are. That's why you write for yourself. You can only really write for people you know, and that's you. You know best what you find interesting, why you're annoyed at certain things, and what you think is missing from a genre.<br><br>u/fuckyourpoetry - I think it's obviously for both. You can't write for people you don't know, so you write for yourself. You then hope there's people out there who will enjoy it. Hopefully enough to make a living or whatever. But the very act of creating is for yourself.<br><br>u/Asweatpantsparty- Yeah, I think it's for both. You write for yourself with people in mind. It's a very hard line that can't really be drawn.<br><br>u/heckecker - I think if you can't enjoy it yourself, you'll have a hard time getting the writing 'right'. You have to look at your own work and go "this is an entertaining story".<br><br>u/smod2016 - Yeah, I think so too. You have to stand behind your work - you have to love it. I'm currently the only person who's read it, but I think I love it enough to keep going with it, even if nobody else likes it.<br><br>u/rayn2006 - yeah, pretty much<br><br>u/Ok_carpenter_7000 - I think it's for both yourself and the readers. Even if you don't know who they are, you're writing it in a way you think they'll enjoy. <br> <br>I can see why it would be mostly for yourself though. At the end of the day, you're the person writing it, choosing the story, the plot, the setting, the twists and turns. But you're writing with readers in mind as well (even if you don't know who they are).