Why I started creative writing

A lot is going on in the world of books. The publishing landscape is changing with a confusing amount of options, it's harder than ever to land a publishing deal, the introduction of AI is causing a lot of conversation, and I am sure there are other hot topics out there that I don't know about. So, why choose to be a writer now? I'm in my early 40s and haven't attempted creative writing since college. That's two decades! And now I'm measuring life in decades, it's a mind-bender. Why am I choosing this path now?

It makes me happy, that's why. I needed to find something that brought me joy when my professional life was crumbling around me. I was having lunch with a friend and exclaimed, "With all the books I've read this summer I could have written a book!". Before I finished that sentence I had made up my mind, I think my mind had made itself up without me as I do not recall thinking it through at all. I didn't do a decision analysis on if it was a good idea. It was simply a fact. I was going to write a book.

For those of you who are avid readers, I'm sure you've encountered some terrible books. You finish and think, "I could write better than that!" I know I have. My personal goal is. I want to write better than the worst book I've ever read. To any aspiring writers, I strongly suggest setting this goal. It makes the process much less stressful. All you have to do is be better than that worst book.

It was October when that happened, I immediately started listening to the audio version of "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" by Stephen King and then signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November and BANG! I wrote over 50k words. No planing, no prep, just word, after word, after word. At times I worried that not plotting ahead of time was going to diminish my story, but my friends and family encouraged me not to quit NaNoWriMo and to meet the 50k goal. Thank you so much for that encouragement!

I sat down at the beginning of November thinking I'd write the story I'd thought of six years ago but after two days I realized I needed to put that on the shelf and just started writing, with no plan in sight other than hitting my word counts for the day. I loved it! I would be walking down the hallway at work and get an epiphany of why a character acted a certain way and I couldn't wait to write it down later that night. Characters evolved, my big finale became my midpoint, characters grew stronger and more layered, and a world took shape. I completed my first draft in early January and I'm still consumed with working out the details of all of the world-building I'm doing after the fact.

Why write now? I'm doing it for the joy of it! Even writing this blog post I'm smiling as I remember the experience of developing a story. I've enjoyed writing this blog. I'm doing it because it's fun and I don't care if it's silly, or if it's a young person's game, or any other lie that people tell themselves. I'm writing because I love it!