Why Writing?

Today I'll be answering Carla's Week 2 question, "What made you want to become an author and do you have any advice to someone who might be interested in becoming one as well?"...

Well, I know it sounds cheesy, but I've always been both a lover and teller of stories. From my earliest memories, I loved reading (yes, I was THAT KID who voraciously read every book in the house three times over and then I consumed all of the dictionaries and encyclopedias...) and it was from that love of reading that my passion for telling stories began. Couple that with a natural curiosity and wanderlust that developed within me as I roamed the lush woods of my southern Alabama home, and I honestly, in retrospect, don't think I could have decided to be anything other than an author.

Now, please let me say upfront that I'm not a full-time author. I WISH. But, I'm blessed and I have a job and I still get to write as often as I can (note I did not say as often as I want), so I cannot complain. (much...) ;)

However, I have no doubt of the moment when I knew that I wanted to write. The very instant that I just had a sense that "one day when I grew up" that I would BE a writer or starve trying.

I was in the 5th grade and my class had a creative writing contest. I was super stoked. I wrote a story entitled "Friends are for Caring"; it was about a little boy who gets separated from his parents while camping in the Redwood Forests of California. Once lost, he is found and aided by a strange little troll dude and they become fast friends. Several days later, wandering among the towering firs, they happen upon the boy's family, who are leaving. So the lad has to make a choice: return with his family or live in the forest with his new, groovy troll friend...

I won't tell you what he chose, as I may post the story here one day for a laugh... :)

Regardless, I won whatever contest we were writing for and it was at that moment that I just ***KNEW***. The very next day, I started in earnest at honing my craft and I've never looked back.

My advice for folks who want to become writers...pretty simple, actually. Three things:

1. Write for you. If you don't love it - no one else will.
2. Write every single day. It's a muscle and it's gotta be ripped.
3. Learn humility. You can always get better and you can always learn. If you can't learn and embrace this, you WILL stagnate.

I hope that helps and I hope it answers your question, Carla. Thanks so much for posting it!

So, now, its your turn, Faithful. I know MANY of you out there write. Why do you do it? Am I full of baloney here? Let us know what YOU think by commenting below!