Writing Inspiration: From Avid Reader to Author
I’m not sure if I’ve ever told my story about how I decided to write. It wasn’t something I thought about for ages before I started, and it wasn’t something that I’d wanted to do my whole life. It was a passion I discovered, almost by accident!
I was working at an incredible company awhile after I graduated from college with a group of gals who loved reading as much as I did. I was plowing through 3-4 books a week and rushing into work to talk about my latest read with the girls at the water cooler … well it wasn’t a water cooler. It was over a way too expensive Starbucks drink, but same idea! After a few months of that routine, I started to find myself stuck in a “what if” cycle every time I finished a new book. I’d propose new twists, or new ideas for an ending and I’d throw out ideas of how the book could have lasted longer, or gone a different direction. Eventually, one of the girls I worked with said, “well if you think you can do better, go for it!” She was teasing and we laughed about it at the time.
But then I thought … “ what if? ” It seemed that there must have been something inside me, tugging at me and yelling to come out. I had some sort of expectation each time I read and was being left unfulfilled. And maybe it was my own story, trying to make its way out. So after a good laugh I decided to just try. I didn’t have ANY experience in writing. My grammar isn’t the greatest, I didn’t outline, I didn’t even know what I wanted to write about. I knew I love paranormal romances and fantasy books, vampires, and that I could most easily relate to my age group (college & post college). So that’s what I went with. I sat down and started writing. In 3 months I had 45,000 words and an idea that was growing by the minute inside of me.
It was at that point that I started wondering how long a book actually was, word count wise. As a reader, I never looked at the other side of writing like that before. I decided to start researching. I learned my favorite author at the time, HP Mallory, was self published. I read her book on how to self publish and was soon immersed in the world of authors. I met my 2 Writing Sisters, who inspire me and who I think are some of the most gifted authors I’ve ever read, and I realized that I’m passionate about writing . I discovered my PASSION ! It took a long time, and my passion ended up being something I had no idea I’d ever even have an interest in! But I tried something new and said “what if.” That what if led me here, to writing!
So, my point in this week’s theme is if you have even a tiny “what if” playing around in your head — GO FOR IT! What will it hurt?! If it’s writing, sit down and see how you feel cranking out 1 page of a story, YOUR story! If it’s something else, take a small baby step towards that!
I’ll be chatting this week on Social Media about inspiration — comment below or visit me there to share what your inspiration is! I’d love to hear from you!
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