"Why do you want to write?"
This is the question for Topic Tuesday and we are asked to
write at least 500 words. Now, when I
first saw this question I had an answer on the tip of my tongue: Because I have
to. It’s like asking a painter why
paint. Or asking a musician why create
music. With no disrespect to those
creative mediums, writing is a completely different type of art that needs a
specific brand of magic to come alive.
It’s easy to put words to page.
It’s damn difficult to make those pages come alive.
Like many authors I began reading at an early age and
creating my own take of those stories. I
loved Encyclopedia Brown, Charlotte’s Web, and Superfudge. When I was eleven
I picked up my first romance, a Harlequin Presents novel titled Web of Silk by Yvonne Whittle. It was set in South
Africa and it swept me away with love and
romance and happily ever after. I knew
at that moment that’s what I wanted to do, to create these beautiful love
stories.
At first, I wrote for myself. I am an introverted person so I relate better
to people within a book rather than people.
Happily ever after makes sure I never feel the sting of heartbreak,
betrayal, and rejection. I dreamed up
story ideas that benefited me, that made my ordinary humdrum life exciting. I could travel to the Wild West, to South
Africa, to England
or be on a pirate ship with a swashbuckling handsome pirate with a heart of
gold.
As I got older, the thought of being a writer for a living was
like traveling to the moon.
Impossible. I told my ex-husband once
what I wanted to do and he laughed at me.
But despite that, I kept writing because 1) the character voices inside
my head wouldn’t shut up and 2) I couldn’t not
write. I was horrible, of course, but
who isn’t when they first start out? I
had moved into the world of fan fiction, mainly because I was into Star Trek
and worked conventions. Fan Fiction back
then was printed booklets that cost $5.
That was my first taste of having people read what I created and it was
a fucking rush! I made no money, of course, but I didn’t
care. People were reading what I wrote!
I kept at it. But now
my marriage had crumbled and I moved to Los Angeles. And then something amazing and wonderful was
invented and it changed my impossible dream.
It was the Kindle. Of course, I
dismissed it, much like I did Madonna when I saw her very first video on MTV
and thought she was never going to last.
Good thing I don’t like to gamble, eh?
In 2004 my boyfriend and I had lived in Paris (France)
and it was during that time when I wrote my first erotica novel, Black Leather Pants. It wasn’t an erotica romance at first. I had no idea what that was until I read a
Maya Banks book, but after that eye opening revelation, I knew what BLP was missing, so I rewrote, took a chance
and in 2009 Siren accepted my book for publication.
Now, the stories are crowding my brain and I have a whole
list of “story ideas” in my computer files.
Now that I’ve finally found my path, the voices are screaming to be
written.
So why do I write? I write for myself. I write for the tired and weary nurse just coming off a twenty hour shift and needs to forget about the patient she lost. I write for the mother of three who can’t seem to find a breath until she lies down at night to read herself to sleep. I write for the soldier who needs a moment of escapism from the reality around her. I write for the wife whose husband works all the damn time. I write for anyone who craves romance.
Wonderful post! I love your reasons!
ReplyDeletehttp://decadentkane.blogspot.com/
Great post! I love how you came to trust yourself. Yeah, the value of the Kindle :D ereaders are a good and a bad thing
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your journey of the written word, and why you keep at it.
ReplyDelete