Why I Write

What makes us want to write? What makes us become writers? Everyone has a different reason or story; some more dramatic than others. Mine isn’t dramatic but it was meaningful, at least for me.

The first thing that ever inspired me to write was my Grade 11 English teacher.  She told us to write a poem and we had to use a bunch of random words somewhere.  When she handed them back to us, she smiled at me and said “Neat.”

                That was all it took. Honest to god, one word of encouragement. Unfortunately, I hadn’t gotten a lot of it in the past, something that was as much my fault as any teacher’s; I was a crap student.

                At the end of the year, we had to do a creative writing portfolio and when I got it back she had left a note saying “You have a gifted hand. Keep writing.” I still have it.

                So that was my original motivation, getting praise. Isn’t that always the way? Luckily, the same teacher had set up a Creative Writing class at my school that I took and enjoyed immensely. After highschool, I wrote off and on but never with any strict regularity.

Then, a year ago, I got a new book for my birthday.  It was called “Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and it was just gorgeous. Every page was like a small chocolate truffle. It’s the only book that made me feel jealous of other people who were just starting it. You can only read a story for the first time once.  A book like that gives you a new appreciation and respect for the craft. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to write.

Lastly, and I shouldn’t call this inspiration because it’s not but rather encouragement.  It was called “Guilty Pleasures” by Laurell K Hamilton. I’m generally not one for vampire romance novels but these books were so popular I thought, there must be something to it, right? And no, there isn’t. It was, by far, the worst thing I’ve ever read. If these books are well-liked it’s because people are, essentially, horny bastards.  I thought, if I can’t write something better than this drivel, I don’t deserve to succeed.

So, here I am, having a go at this business of story-telling.