#BecauseIAmWhoIAm Why I Write
July 28, 2014
by Yvonne DiVita #BecauseIAmWhoIAm
Robbi Hess, the blog manager here at Lipsticking, tagged me in a blog hop last week. Robbi writes several blogs but her most recent is a favorite of mine, All Words Matter. I'm mad I didn't start it first! (not mad, mad... you know... cause I can't be mad at Robbi, but mad in the, 'why didn't I think of that?' way) The blog hop started on Susan C Foster’s site and continues here, today.
What to say... what to write... or, more to the point, what NOT to say or write. I could write all day about why I write. Like Robbi, I wrote a book when I was a kid. A 300 page combination ghost story, love story. I wish I still had it. It would make for fun reading, I bet. I was in seventh grade. I was pretty much a loner... though I had friends, I preferred reading and writing, to hanging out.
I wrote bad poetry, don't we all? And, I wrote short stories, agonizing over my plight as a teenager. Oh, woe is me!
Writing was never that hard for me. I read so much, and absorbed more than the stories in all the novels I read, more than the poetry in the poetry books; I absorbed the structure and purpose of writing. I felt as if it was the only place I could really shine. I belonged to my writing. I lived each protagonist's life... heck, I think I even looked like them! Well, they were my invention, after all!
Writing, like reading, took me away from the mundane world I existed in. It delivered me to new places and let me create worlds that I could manage. In my writing, even in the unhappy endings, and there were a lot of unhappy endings in the early days, I challenged my characters to be real... to talk as if they were alive, to perform as if they really existed, to be people with the same problems I had, often unable to be solved... because, as a child, I had no vision beyond my own room... despite all the novels I devoured weekly.
As I grew, and matured, I discovered I could write the kind of content other people appreciated. I was an adult with young children when I had my first story published! Oh joy! Not long after, I received a note from another publication I had submitted something to, with a note from the editor, "We can't use this right now but I encourage you to submit again."
I never, ever, ever had a doubt that my writing was ME, who I am. So, that's the answer. #IwritebecauseIamwhoIam ... writing ... telling stories... helping others move from the mundane of their daily lives to the excitement of a story or poem, makes my life worthwhile.
And now, I need to tag some folks to continue the blog hop.
First person I thought of is my BFF Toby Bloomberg. She was game, which I thought she would be. She's done blog hops before on Diva Marketing. I thought of Toby because she writes so well, and has been blogging for as long as I have. I love her work, I love the way she thinks, and I love that she's always willing to help a friend out.
The next person I thought of was Amy Shojai, from Bling, Bitches and Blood, and a writer from my pet community, BlogPaws. Amy is a successfully published writer! She knows a fair bit about the challenges of writing... and the highs and lows. I am pretty sure she'll have something enormously important to say about this topic. And, I think you should learn a bit about her books, too.
And, I also tagged my BFF Sybil Stershic, who is a non-profit marketing professional whose blog Quality Service Marketing serves the folks in non-profits who need a little help with their marketing. Sybil has been doing this for a long time and she's written two books on this topic! I am in awe of how she brings non-profit marketing into the 21st century without losing the importance of that personal touch. And that's why I wanted her to participate... because she understands how to get personal, on a blog.
Enjoy all! I write #becauseIamwhoIam
Such fun to read about your back-story. Thanks for your kind words and inviting me to play along. Reminds me of the blogosphere days!
Posted by: TobyDiva | July 31, 2014 at 11:47 PM
I love it! We were young authors! Thank you for sharing where and how you began your love of writing!
Posted by: Robbi | July 29, 2014 at 09:38 AM
What fun! Great post and now I'll have to come up with something fuzzily-pithy to write/say. *s*
Posted by: Amy Shojai, CABC | July 29, 2014 at 09:09 AM
Thanks for including me in this Blog Hop, Yvonne! I look forward to reading Toby's and Amy's posts next.
Posted by: Sybil F. Stershic | July 28, 2014 at 11:50 AM