Why do I write? Because it's the way I can reliably access words. I speak through the keyboard in a way I cannot in person. Perhaps it's because I am wired to be very, very visual, but for some reason, I cannot communicate orally the way I can through writing. Some wire trips when I try to talk in-depth about something and words are no longer there. With writing, the wires don't get tripped nearly as often.

So I write to communicate. To express myself. To be heard. To be as important as everyone else who is making their voice heard.

As such, audience does not really play into my writing. It does to a degree, of course, just as I filter my behavior to what is appropriate in whatever situation. (Or the nearest approximation thereof.) However, I find the words do not come when I am trying to pander. They only come if I'm writing for myself first, and whoever else second.

I'll have to think about the shining question. I know it when I see it, but I don't have a ready answer. If I were pressed, though, I'd say naturalness. Characters who are real.

Crash? Oh yeah. It happens when I finish an important story, painting, project... anything intensely creative. I think the reason why is because it's a form of letting go and experiencing the grief that accompanies it, even if it's overall a happy thing. A bit of my soul goes into my art (writing, sewing, painting, etc.), and acknowledging that it is finished, that it is complete unto itself and no longer needs me... it's difficult. It is me, but is no longer part of me... Ya know?