I made a fan comic, so I knew making money off of it would be out of the question. I just really wanted my favorite characters to hang out with my self-insert
Since I was 10 y.o. I had a whole bunch of OCs and wanted the things I draw to become anime. My husband writes amazing stories I absolutely love, and drawing them kinda makes me feel like I am having my own anime and I want other people to see them through my eyes and enjoy them too 
Don't usually dream about them but my head often makes up conversations & sometimes they just begin growing into something like a story.
It just looked fun tbh I dunno what else to tell you, man 
That said, it's more demanding than I was anticipating ngl 
Mine also started out as kind of a self-insert fanfiction, but over the years of adding more and more ideas & plot to it, it became something more than that. It still has a lot of those crossover elements, but it's pretty much what makes it very charming; some kids going on an adventure through multiple worlds, meeting their heroes and saving the day, but also trying to live with the consequences of opening all those pandora boxes that they were at fault for opening
The project itself suddenly became longer than I anticipated, but I'm having a lot of fun with it and that's what counts 
I started making it because it's in my head for a long time and I just wanted to tell it. No special reason, just wanted to create my story
Honestly, multiple reasons. One of them was because I've been helping people over the past years and I realized just how many people felt alone or unheard, there are so many battles that they are fighting by themselves, and I wanted to change that. I wanted to use this as a way to reach out to people, telling them that they aren't alone, that the road ahead can be hard, but there's always light at the end of the tunnel.
Second one is more personal, but it's cause of the passing of my mentor (may she rest in peace), and long story short. It's a promise that she wanted me to promise her and I am following through it.
First, the idea came from a dream especially the character, Lyza. At first, I didn't know her name before asking suggestions from my friends and one friend suggested Lyza and it felt that it fit the character.
In the dream, I pictured a wasteland in which she protects her brother in a very "Mad Max" setting which was super cool and from there, I start build a story around her and her ability.
It's something about this character that I love writing stories about her and so on and many friends have been giving me some positive reception about her.
My reason is sort of the same, that I can make a story where anything can happen. Two other reasons are because I want to show something or that the characters are ones I love a lot and I want readers to be able to enjoy them ^^
I was just really burnt out from comics and wanted to purely write prose to have at least one non-comic outlet. My first novel was really just to indulge and care for myself.
Plus, as with most of my stories, I saw a popular trend and wanted to express my interpretation of it.
I needed to.
I've mentioned it elsewhere on the forums, but like many people, I started this project in quarantine. Well, sort of. See, the desire to Make Something (which in this case means 'make an original story and put it into the world for others to experience, ideally as a career or at least a long-term project) has been an ever-present feature of my life. Since I was a child, I've never wanted to be anything but an artist. I've wanted to make comics since I entered college, and that was my plan all four years.
And then I got out of college, and promptly... didn't get into the comic industry, for various reasons. And then I spent fifteen years doing anything except art for work, because I didn't think I could, and (surprise!) found that I was really, REALLY unfulfilled and directionless. And what began as an annoying 'I'll get to it someday' feeling in the back of my head started really gnawing on me a couple of years ago, and taking a serious toll on my mental health. I NEEDED to start making something, because not doing so was eating me alive. It was the caliber of Need that people have regrets about on their deathbed if they don't at least try. (I know that sounds melodramatic, but it actually feels that way.)
So I tried a few different ideas, and finally actually started. I'm still wrestling with my long-term feelings of inadequacy, and wondering if it'll ever actually go anywhere, but I've Started. The panic in the back of my brain has quieted, and I feel like I'm doing something right for the first time in over a decade.
I had an idea in my head that just wouldn't go away. I came up with the idea of a trio of girls in a Paramore-esque pop punk band in high school, pondered over it over time, tried abandoning it in college, but it kept coming back. Once I graduated college, I decided that i was going to finally release it.
At the time I first came up with the idea for The Middle, I actually didn't like Pop Punk music very much. After growing up a little, actually hearing quite a bit of varieties of music and practicing guitar, drums, and bass, I grew to appreciate pop punk more. Now, it's pretty much the only stuff I write since I've been writing music for my comic.
Having grown up with the idea in my head, I very much see my OCs as an extension of myself. Over time, the story has changed so much, but the core is still there. I needed a creative outlet, and Whitney, Gwen, and Fiona were there to help me realize it.
Because one can't think he/she/they will live forever. 
If i don't have enough time in the world i might as well condense everything I want to express & love into a story, and in my case a comic series because it's the medium I can thrive on. But really, I want to have the option of making another one after my current series.
And also: to print into manga volumes at the end 
I have always loved the idea of creating something with nothing but my bare hands and mind and I love sharing my work with others, simply because writing makes me feel the kind of freedom that I don't have anywhere else in my life and I want other people to feel that as well when reading my work.
My story itself was based on an idea that I had when I was very young, basically around the time that I experienced my first writer's block after taking my writing in a more serious direction. Working at this story and striving for it to be finished is what helped me get out of the very bad state I at some point found myself in. It's a form of self-expression and I love my characters deeply and think that they deserve to have their stories told.
I started writing stories because I wanted to have something I'm proud of and share it with someone. I want to be able to say, "yeah, I made that." It took a lot of courage and perseverance to make it this far, but it's worth it. I love creating strange and weird worlds, and it makes me happy that people enjoy reading my stories.