Writing, Breathing, Living

 Multiple Choice Blog!
 Have Fun!

1. What makes someone write?
        a. Your fifth grade English teacher
        b. Your mom wanting you to write a thank you letter to grandma
        c. Money
        d. None of the above

2. When do authors begin writing?
       a. When their teacher tells them to write about what they did during the summer
       b. When they get their first journal
       c. When they get a new computer
       d. All or none of the above

3. What do writers write about?
       a. How birds fly
       b. Superheroes
       c. Their first kiss
       d. All or none of the above

4. How do writers/authors write?
       a. On a recliner
       b. In bed
       c. At a computer table
       d. All of the above

5. What do authors look like?
      a. Judy Schachner
      b. Rick Riordan
      c. J.R.R. Tolkien

d.

   

 







Answers:

1. d. none of the above
Nothing makes an author write. Sure you can get an assignment that you have to write, but real writing comes from the heart. It's something that whispers 'write me.' I think there are probably millions of reasons people write, because there are millions of writers, including you. BTW never get into writing because you want to make money. It's rare. Get into writing because you love to write!

2. d. all or none of the above
Some writers do begin their writing when they have had to do an assignment they really enjoyed. Some began with a journal.
These days it could be when you have received your first computer. I wrote a lot of stuff in notebooks, but when I got my first used desktop, my writing world exploded into opportunity. It was like Aladdin's magic carpet-taking me to so many places.

3. d. all or none of the above.
Writers write about the things they know, they love, again, the things that whisper 'tell about me!' I met an amazing author of non-fiction books who studies her subjects, writes about poop or roadkill with equal passion, and then takes her passion to schools to help kids learn to love science.
I began writing stories about characters I saw on television. I wanted to show more than what was on television screen. I wanted these fan-fiction characters to feel real to others. I loved writing!  Later on, I wanted my original characters to do the same.

4. d all of the above.
Doesn't matter where you write--Write!!
I wrote a novel while riding a stationary bike at the gym. It took me a year.

5. d
Look in a mirror. An author looks like you! Think about what you like, what is 'whispering' in your heart and mind! And then WRITE...  in a notebook, on your computer, on a napkin. Write!!

PS. I granted my fan-fiction characters (Zorro, Buck Rogers, Capt. Crane, others) their wishes for their stories to be told for over ten years. It was exhilarating seeing what they would do next. As I wrote, I got inside their heads, saw their worlds in my mind and then on my computer. I left my sometimes drab existence of the real world as I imagined theirs. I did it because I loved it!
You have to love writing. Love putting down words, ideas, and new places.

And there is something else about writing.... Reading. Good writers read a lot.

"The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing; one comes to the country of the writer with one’s papers and identification pretty much in order," says Stephen King. (Think about it!)