Why I Write?

I enjoy fitting words together like they’re puzzle pieces.

I like to discover reality in the make-believe, which is why I’m an English major hoping to become a fiction author.

A question that comes up a lot when you’re a wanna-be writer is: Why write?

At first, I didn’t know how to answer. Writing is what I’ve always wanted to do. But when the question was asked in an Intro. to English class for my English major, I was forced to grapple with the answer.

As humans, we pass our burdens to each other, trading them between ourselves to feel a different type of weight for a while.

We have years of experience living our own lives and facing our own hurts. Some dig so deeply they crack through to every part of ourselves. They make up who we are.

Words on paper make more out of our darkness. They make a tangible thing of hope and resistance. Characters push and pull against each other until they find their footing.

I want to share the aches as well as the humor and beauty of human experience.

Plus, I’m a sucker for stories that make my heart flutter.

Since I was 8, I’ve had stories lined up in my brain ready to jump onto paper. My first one was set in a Dystopian world where every country was at war to become the one true government.

Growing up halted my creativity because I was overwhelmed with my dreams of getting published. I struggled to get anything on the paper unless it was words I had agonized over for long minutes of overthinking.

I wanted to be published. I wanted my name on a book, and I still do. But now I’ve found my love for the act of writing again too.

So, why do I write?

I write because of a book’s thrill. Writing is reverse reading, you’re following along with your characters, experiencing what there is to experience in this brand new world, except when you’re the writer, you’re in charge.