What Got You Interested In Writing?

[B.W.]

Thought it might be fun to talk about why those who write got interested in writing in the first place... not just writing books but writing in general.

For me, I think I always had an interest in writing and doing creative stuff... I remember doodling and writing simple short stories when I was younger, but didn't think much about it when it came to my career pursuits. But I had an interest in writing for the school newspapers and that allowed me to expand on my writing talents.

As I got older, I found new outlets for creative writing of sorts and that kept my interest in writing going.

So what made the rest of you decide to try writing for the first time?

[Eve]

I believe I was born a storyteller. It's a gift that must be cared for much like an annoying spoilt child, The need for everything to have a backstory is compelling. I can hear the conversations. These stories demand to be told. I thought it was normal until I was told in grade school that I talked to much about nothing.

[Bethany]

This is a story I don't tell often.

See, I loved to read growing up. This resulted in me reading when I was supposed to do other things (chores, clean my room, schoolwork, etc) so my parents would take my books away from me as punishment. I found a loophole: anything I wrote didn't count as a book and was not taken away from me. Being a particularly stubborn child, I was often left with only the workings of my imagination for my entertainment.

My short stories and fanfiction tales kept me satisfied until my early twenties when I took the plunge with NaNoWriMo and wrote my first novel.