How did you become a writer?

The need to share my experience and my thoughts with other people. That's how usually people become writers. The good writers are the ones who have caught the essence of this world and explain it to the rest of the people so that they can understand it.

I'd always written for fun, but in my late twenties, I found myself working an extremely high-pressure job. I become very depressed and was perhaps heading for a nervous breakdown. I found that writing made me feel happier and helped me cope with all the stress. I wrote more and more, and realised that while I didn't think I was especially talanted, I had found something that made me happy. Between the ages of thirty-one and thirty-three I wrote five novels, none of which I considered good enough to send to a publisher. Although each book was very much a learning experience, the plot would always break down at about the eighty-thousand word mark.

Late in '06 I started a new novel, and I knew straight away that it was better than anything I had ever done before, and that it was worth taking my time over to make sure that I got it right. It took me much longer than the previous novels, but at the end of '07 I had a workable first draught. By late spring of '08, I had found a publisher who liked it and bought it. Over the past twelve months, we've gone through the standard editing process (minor changes, but nothing too stressful) and the book is out April 28th.

I consider myself incredibly lucky to have found a publisher who is willing to pay for my work, but my luck is the result of thousands of hours of work.

I write because I love the process- Stephen King has theorised that stories are 'found' rather than created, and that all writers do is shape it. I tend to agree with him- I can write three thousand words a day, but also I can spend weeks agonising over a single sentance.

I actually started out writing essays and non-fiction for school assignments and, finding I had an aptitude for it and was encouraged by my professors, began to try fiction as well. It's really just been a work in progress.

As for being a *professional* writer, I made sure that some of my first college courses were in technical writing, and found a job in that field. Now I can work, go to college, and write for pleasure in the evenings, all without sacrificing either my income, my education or my enjoyment.

And why I write? This will sound weird, but I hate to have people looking at me. No idea why; I'm not shy in general. But I found that I'm most comfortable when I'm alone at my computer, typing away. I love to communicate, but giving oral presentations isn't for me!

I think if you write solely to share your experiences, you're writing for the wrong reason. For me it's a purely personal experience. I tolerate my work being read by others, but do not enjoy it. It makes me feel vulnerable.

I've always written; before I could write I used to tell stories into a recordable cassette player.

I have quite serious home problems and I find that writing is an escape - as corny as that sounds. It gives you the opportunity to explore and delve into your characters problems. You share your characters triumphs, breathe their every word. Yet you are safe from them and their problems. When it gets too hard you can shut the laptop, fold away the paper, recap the pen.

I write for the high of finishing an 100,000 word manuscript. Writing that last sentence which ties everything in together. I write for that bazaar emptiness when you finish that last word. Type the last full-stop. Like you're saying goodbye to a close friend.

I write so I have an excuse to watch others, to think about why people say things and how they choose to say them. I write so that when I close my eyes I see the familiar, not a surreal dream scape. I write to give songs meaning that would otherwise not relate to me.

Mostly, I write because it gets me away from home. When I write I'm free.

I started writing when I realized that putting my thoughts, emotions, experiences or something I was going through into words would either make me feel better, or make me realize something I had missed. Maybe a lesson, maybe a change I made or someone else around me made. Maybe explain why something happened that hurt me. Writing comes from within you. You become one because you can express things much better in writing then with verbal words. It allows you to take what you're writing about to a whole new level that simple discussing it cannot.

People write for various reasons, but its where the writing comes from that is most important.

The only answer to that question would be to START WRITING. :) What inspires me is my own imagination...story concepts that I create that I feel will make (or hope will make) tales that will entertain and interest, at least, *some* people. Write about what you are interested in. Good advice from one of my favorite authors Mary Higgins Clark, is to write in the genres you love to READ! I love drama, supernatural, mystery, thriller, and suspense with some apocalyptic sci-fi as well. That is what I tend to write. I am also a poet. What interests me regarding poetry is the world around me--human nature and behavior. Corruption and integrity. Good and evil. Write from your heart. Write from your passion. That's the best advice I can give you.

i love writing stories, they make the world come alive

and u can write about anything and when u finishand reread it

i feel pleased with maself

i just love story writing

and yes that is a confusing question :P

i only write in my spare time not proffesionally lol

To see how I could weave the words depicting scenes or character in their dramatic instance. its a lively art.

the story keeps ringing in my mind, like unforgettable events that you want to tell somebody, its like a child expressing his emotion.

Mary Jane helps a lot.

I don't write, but good one!