Why Do You Write?

I have just returned from a fun and inspiring afternoon at Arts & Media Prep High School in Brooklyn, New York, where author Fatima Shaik and I spoke to a group of 13 students, mostly ninth graders. Their teacher, Michael Guarneiri, had prepared them well. Their questions were interesting and addressed many of the problems experienced writers continue to face: "How do you start a book to get the reader's attention?" "How do you keep the story developing beyond the first chapter?"--and everyone's favorite--"What happens when you're in the middle of writing something and you get a great new idea?"

When we went around the room to answer Fatima's question of "When did you begin writing?" we found out that most of the students started around sixth grade. They speculated on their reasons--that was when they left the cozy elementary school and met a lot of new people, they began to understand more of their world and gained the skills to write down their thoughts and stories, they were inspired by a book they read.