Why I Write

via Deviant Art by TeaPhotography

Why I write

This first week of blog posts will be about me and things that I like/love. If you're going to show up for an entire month of posts, you should know a bit about me. This first one will talk about why I write. Aside from the little gremlin in my head that demands words flow out of my fingertips, I like writing stories.

I have always had a vivid imagination and a weird sense of humor, but how did I write that first story? What made me realize that I could gather words together and line them up on a page for the enjoyment of other people?

It was a bit of a fluke actually. I used to be a roleplayer. Mostly text based. It was fun. I learned how to weave words together to create the effect I wanted other people to experience. It's where I found out that I love creating characters. I had a few of them, too. I was always creating new characters with backstories and quirky little ticks.

I know, I know. Sounds geeky and weird. Maybe it was, but I loved it.

I wrote my first stories in that environment. They weren't very good admittedly. All that grammar I'd learned in school had left me. Commas? Please. I put a comma in during a pause, right? Or randomly wherever I feel like it? Ending with a preposition? Sure. That's what you're supposed to do, yes?

It was a year or two after I stopped playing that game until I started writing professionally. I was laid off from my job and needed some income. Then my car broke down, so I couldn't travel for work. I found this freelance writing gig online. For the first time, people paid me for words. Words out of my head that are available to everyone. I had finagled them into a pleasing arrangement and someone paid me for it.

I can't begin to explain how exciting that was. Unless you're a writer being paid for your work, you might be rolling your eyes at me. Those who have gotten paid for their writing know what I'm talking about here. Even if you're writing it and thinking, "Oh boy. I can't believe people pay me for this." They are! There's a certain joy and satisfaction in it.

Right now, I have two separate writing lives. I have the boring, dry text writing where I can't express my personality. That's the working day job. The wonder of someone paying me for words has mostly worn off after two years. I write for other people because I need the money, not to create stunning creative works of art.

On the other side of the writing life, I have the fiction. I could say something profound like writing feeds my soul. It's what I was building towards all these years. And okay, that could be true, but ultimately, I write because I like entertaining people. I love making them laugh. I've always liked telling stories, or saying something witty, funny or outrageous that makes people respond.

It really all comes down to that desire to entertain.