Why I Write Blogfest

Kayeleen Hamblin from Kayeleen’s Creation Corner is hosting her first ever blogfest, yay! So of course I had to jump in and join (’cause I’m crazy like that, but also to support her). All I need to do is share why I write. What is it that makes me clock in less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep just so I can write? Why suffer carpal tunnel syndrome at the keyboard? Why do I get glassy-eyed in mid-conversation with someone because an idea had gripped my brain vise-like and wouldn’t let go?

I was a reader first before I became a writer. But I’ve always had a penchant for writing, even early on in my childhood. Or at least I liked telling stories. My audience? A bunch of sniffly cousins all younger than I was (it’s all about hierarchy among cousins, of course. Haha!). They’d sit around me and I remember spinning tales off the books I’ve read, mostly from the Arabian tales (Scheherazade copycat). Later on, my sister and I would write down short fiction that were very melodramatic and made us cry (forbidden love and death…very Romeo and Juliet).

High school came with a lot of teen angst and insecurity. I wrote poem after poem to deal with my inner drama. They weren’t anything grand or exceptional, but they comforted me. Needless to say, English was my best subject at school. My teachers would borrow my pieces to be shown as examples.

All through the years, I’ve always found time to read. While I was carrying my second child, it came to me that I’m capable of writing a freaking entire book if I’d put my mind to it. Why not, right? Others have certainly done it, and I could do it too. So I wrote. Feverishly, I might add. My sister (the same one who used to write Romeo and Juliet spinoffs) read my 400-page ms and loved it. Thank heaven for wonderful sisters!

I would later chopped this beloved first draft until I had to concede and put it to rest in a folder. Other ideas would come and go, and that exhilarating feeling of writing would slap me happy. I do write for pure enjoyment–whether I get published or not, as long as I’m happy slaving away at my PC, I keep on writing. I know people snort when they hear a writer say, “I’m not doing this for the money“. But I’m not. I’m blessed enough to enjoy being a stay-at-home mom and being able to pursue writing as a creative outlet. To get published would be a bonus, certainly, but the money is not my ultimate goal. (You can throw rocks if you want to, but this is my truth.)

Thanks Kayeleen, for this opportunity to share. Check out the other responses by clicking on the picture: