Books, words, stories, plots, characters. These are all the things that have accompanied me as long as I can remember. Each night before bed, I would kneel before my bookshelf and run my hands over all the spines of my favorite stories and my friends. The likes of Mickie Mouse, The Littles, My Little Pony and, of course, The Berenstain Bears. My dad would sit on the edge of my bed and read the same beloved stories time and time again. As I got older, I started holding the books and reading along. Until one day, I was able to read them by myself. At that point, I never stopped. I would devour a book in an afternoon and pick up another. Then another after that one. It was a passion. An escape. The characters WERE my friends. I felt their pain and happiness. The butterflies fluttered in my tummy during Charlotte's Web. Their world was my world.
My passion has always been the written word. Technology has advanced but the touch, the feel and the smell of a bound book comforts me. Turning the pages reminds me of those childhood years when I had no cares. This love made me the student I was as I wrote papers, stories and poetry for my own amusement and for assignments. In the beginning, I had many start and stop stories. More of thoughts and outlines to go back to later. My poetry was the number one thing for several years. I read every book I could get my hands on but my writing was poetry. Reaching the middle of high school, I ran out of academic classes to take so I signed up for Creative Writing. The first day of class we were handed 5 1/4" floppy discs to save our work on before we printed it off on dot-matrix printers. The sound of that printer kicking into action excited me. My words on the paper for others to read.
Almost 20 years later, I am still typing in front of a computer. My ideas flowing into a story. The birthing of a novel is a strenuous job. And I love it. My creativity can flow and I can say whatever I want. No one can tell me what is or isn't supposed to be in my stories. I am free to explore the depths of my mind. And I love it.
This month's topic for Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour for Forward Motion is "Why am I a writer". My answer quite simply is: I love words. I cannot think of another reason better. Writing a story is setting down words to convey what is in my mind. Without words, there would be no writers or books to read. I am thankful to my dad for instilling the love of reading and the importance of it at a very young age. It has been a light in dark times. A beacon to show me my way through the mist of sadness. The time spent with a book is never wasted but a cherished time with old friends. Til we meet again...
Please go visit the writings of my fellow writers at Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour and see why they became writers themselves. Tomorrow will bring the writings of G R Colorado. Until next month, happy reading!
