My writing career began on a whim. I was ten years old and despised writing in school. I hated essays, papers and creative promptings; it was easily my least favorite subject and certainly my worst. It's not that I disliked expressing myself (anyone who knows me will die laughing at that notion), or even that I wasn't an exceptionally imaginative child. I was, however, and still am outrageously independent and did not appreciate being told what to do or how to do it. Write a story in first person about your favorite Christmas memory? NO! And back off, man, this is my imagination! One day, however, there was a story in my head that wasn't fulfilling enough to act out, so I took a pencil and changed my life forever.
Writing began as a way for me to engage my ever-churning creativity, but it quickly evolved into a mechanism by which I explored myself and the world. Whereas I once wrote solely for enjoyment, I now write to make sense of reality, pose questions and search for answers. To be honest, I think that's what stories should be - devices that exercise the heart and mind as well as the imagination. It's what separates books from literature, in my opinion. A good book offers a rousing story and a creative escape from one reality to another. Yet, the reader remains primarily a fanciful observer and is only invested in the tale on a slightly emotional level, depending upon how attached he is to the storyline and characters. Literature, on the other hand, confronts the reader's core beliefs, principles, deepest emotions and view of the world and forces him to compare what he knows to what he's experiencing through the story. In effect, the fictional world bleeds through the pages and inspires some level of analysis, re-evaluation and wonder. That is what I try to write. ("Try" being the operative word. But, hey, I'm developing.)
That being said, I'm no literature snob. And I'm also no Dostoevsky. I like a good romp of a story just as much as anyone, and I like writing for fun just as much as the rest of my writer friends. And, in the end, that's what makes me open my laptop and stare at a blinking cursor in Word for hours until sentences magically start streaming from my fingers: the fun of it. Creation. Narration. Discovery. Being in control of every detail, interaction, emotion and event of an entire world. I am Author, hear me roar! There's nothing quite like it. When I manage to weave the strands of literature into my writing, I'm over the moon.
How about you? What's your take on the art of storytelling? Why do you write?
Writing began as a way for me to engage my ever-churning creativity, but it quickly evolved into a mechanism by which I explored myself and the world. Whereas I once wrote solely for enjoyment, I now write to make sense of reality, pose questions and search for answers. To be honest, I think that's what stories should be - devices that exercise the heart and mind as well as the imagination. It's what separates books from literature, in my opinion. A good book offers a rousing story and a creative escape from one reality to another. Yet, the reader remains primarily a fanciful observer and is only invested in the tale on a slightly emotional level, depending upon how attached he is to the storyline and characters. Literature, on the other hand, confronts the reader's core beliefs, principles, deepest emotions and view of the world and forces him to compare what he knows to what he's experiencing through the story. In effect, the fictional world bleeds through the pages and inspires some level of analysis, re-evaluation and wonder. That is what I try to write. ("Try" being the operative word. But, hey, I'm developing.)
That being said, I'm no literature snob. And I'm also no Dostoevsky. I like a good romp of a story just as much as anyone, and I like writing for fun just as much as the rest of my writer friends. And, in the end, that's what makes me open my laptop and stare at a blinking cursor in Word for hours until sentences magically start streaming from my fingers: the fun of it. Creation. Narration. Discovery. Being in control of every detail, interaction, emotion and event of an entire world. I am Author, hear me roar! There's nothing quite like it. When I manage to weave the strands of literature into my writing, I'm over the moon.
How about you? What's your take on the art of storytelling? Why do you write?
If you will remember, it was your mother who, after years of trying to get you to write using writing prompts, suggested that you write whatever you want. You're welcome!
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