Why Do I Write?

I blame my mother.

Divorce made her a single mom of three toddlers, but she read to us often. Books were popular gifts for birthdays and Christmases. Once school started, there was a friendly competition not only among our classmates but among we three kids at home. I remember my first grade teacher being surprised how quickly I went through books and moved up to higher reading levels. I set the bar for my siblings, and to this day, I don’t think they thank me!

I don’t remember when I actually started writing, but I feel as if I’ve always been a writer. Short stories allowed me to explore creating characters and taking them places. Poetry brought me through my teenage years, and gained me popularity among my classmates. My poems were fraught with all the drama and emotions we were experiencing, and everybody wanted to read them. I was proud to be known as the writer among us.

Sometime in junior high, a friend introduced me to romances. I’ve been hooked ever since. I’ve read books that made me laugh, made me cry, made me root for the characters, and some that made me hate the characters, too. The more I read, the more I learned that I probably didn’t actually hate the characters. I just didn’t like how they were written. I started rewriting them in my head, thinking what I would have done differently.

I was passionate about those books. I loved meeting new characters, learning and growing with them as they traversed their character arcs and became the characters they were meant to be. I loved going places with them, feeling as if I were right there with them. Reading was, and still is, an escape. Getting lost in a book relaxes me.

Today, my mom and I share books. We like a lot of the same authors. Since I started writing, we’ve talked about how much fun it would be for her to travel with me to do research for my books. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet. But thanks to mom, I am obsessed with reading and writing.

People fascinate me. Every person is who he or she is because of his or her life experiences. That doesn't necessarily make them good or bad, right or wrong. It's important to remember that not all of us think alike. If we did, this world would be a very boring place!  It's our differences - and our likeness - that creates conflict in every relationship. Being a people person, I want to "fix" those conflicts and help people get along. Unfortunately, real life isn't always fixable.

As a writer, I can fix people and their relationships. And therein lies the challenge. I need to be a writer.

I want to share my passion for books. I want people to know it is possible to get lost in a good read, to meet characters very different from the people we are. I want to write books that will give other people the same pleasure I have found in reading. If I can do that, then I will consider myself successful.

If you are a writer, why do you write? If you are a reader, why do you read? I'd love to hear your thoughts!