it's been so long at this point that i hardly remember the details of what truly came first motivation-wise haha. but, writing's always been a way for me to express myself, and 11/12-year-old me had a lot of things to work through and express at the time, unfortunately. rather than writing angsty bullshit in a diary i could never hide well enough, though, it made a lot more sense to try and actually contribute to communities that i found some solace in, and i think that was ultimately the root of it. even now, while i'm in a very different place, most of the stuff i publish has a lot of me and my life experience still in it, and i get to entertain other people at the same time :) best of both worlds