Why do you want to write?

This week's...challenge...on Topic Tuesday is a 500 word blog about why we want to write. I say challenge because there are days I question every thought I've ever had about being able to write. I've had one story published in an anthology, but even after a year, it still feels surreal. I don't see myself as an author, or a writer, or whatever noun you wish to attach to it.

I've been writing since junior high. English was always my favorite class, and I enjoyed writing stories, spinning tales, and penning poetry. My 11th grade English teacher told me she was sure one day I would be a famous author and she wanted a signed copy of my first novel. (I don't think she meant a short story about M/M romance. She was a former nun at a private interparochial high school.)

I was diagnosed with severe clinical depression approximately twelve years ago, and at times, when my mind feels more like a pressure cooker about to explode, I write poetry. Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it doesn't.

I've always enjoyed writing. It's more a need or a compulsion at times. Even if no one reads it, I have to write. The "Rice Krispies" (to quote JR Ward) become to loud to ignore. I write to keep myself sane. I write because my A.D.D. interferes with my life and the only way to keep track of the ideas I have is to put pen to paper, as it were.

My sister is a major influence in my writing, or more appropriately, my writing ideas. I've written a children's book based on my niece's Weimaraner, Lana. The idea came from a conversation between my sister and I about an experience with Lana and my nephew. I need an illustrator for it. 

The latest idea she has suggested is using a tachyon theory to explain the ancient mysteries of our world. She does this to me all the time. Tosses possibilities out to get my "Rice Krispies" hopping. I'm working on it. 

Now, why do I want to write? Because one day, when I grow up, I want to be Nora Roberts. "Why?" you may ask. Well, Ms. Roberts' use of imagery is wonderful. There is nothing quite as descriptive, in my opinion, as the opening page of her novel, Midnight Bayou. Her writing has you standing in a swamp, slapping mosquitoes, breathing humid air, and watching things crawl, slither, and slide around the water, grass, and trees.

This is why I want to write. I want one day for someone to read something I have written and say "I want to be her when I grow up. I want to be able to do this." Will it ever happen? I don't know. As I've said, I don't see myself as an author even though I have two published works. Maybe one day I'll have more published and it will feel less surreal. Who knows?

In the mean time, stop by and catch up with the Usual Suspects here.