Why I love being a writer

I've always loved to read and I've spent countless happy hours with my nose stuck in a book. I'd say "it doesn't get any better than that" but it does. Because creating a story and the characters who will live that story is the ultimate joy for me. I love being a writer! 

So, here it is early January in Cincinnati. Now, keep in mind that I am NOT a winter person. Looking out the window across from my desk as I type this, I see bare trees, gray skies and a dreary landscape. And, it's cold out there. But, like reading, writing offers me a way to escape. When I close the drapes and immerse myself in my current WIP (work in progress), Murder at the Mine, which will be the fifth novel in my Small Town mystery series, everything changes.

Suddenly, it's a hot and humid August day at a gem mine in North Carolina and all of my senses are evoked. I can feel the sun beating down on my head as I trudge up a hill, shovel and bucket in hand, along with my main character, Kate, and her fiancé, to dig for emeralds. Perspiration drips down my face and I swipe at it with the back of my hand. I’m no longer in Cincinnati; I've been transported to another place. 

But escape isn’t the only reason I love being a writer. God has given each of us a dream and I thank Him every day for making my dream come true. The art of creating gives me the opportunity to share bits and pieces of my life and experiences with my readers – without revealing what is based on fact and what is solely a product of my imagination.

Imagine this. Five writers sit at a table. I give each of them the same list of characters and the same plot and I ask them to write a story using that information. I'm sure you know what will happen. Each writer will write a totally different story in a totally different way. They'll each use their own imagination and their own voice to do that and the end result will be five stories that have little resemblance to each other.

Why? Because, like our fingerprints and our DNA, each of us is unique, one of a kind, and our writing styles will reflect that. Each writer pulls from his or her own experience and knowledge to create a story that no one else could possibly write. And, it isn't just about the experience and knowledge we each have. It's also about our individual perceptions of and reactions to those things, all of which makes the art of creating a beautiful and exciting adventure. 

The books we write are pieces of us. There's nothing more satisfying to me than creating a story (and the characters who will live it) that is unlike what anyone else on the planet has written or could write. I wish I could say that everyone who reads my books will love them but, of course, that's not true because our reading tastes differ too. Some people will enjoy and appreciate my books and others won't. But I write them in my own distinctive way, the only way I can.

I've heard that, when you find the thing you're most suited to do in life, you'll feel as if you've come home. When I write, I'm home.

Letting Our Characters Speak For Us

A few months ago, I was a guest on another author’s blog and I was asked this question: Which of your characters is the most like you? I replied that my main character, Ann, and her sister, Marnie, each shared some physical characteristics and some personality traits with me. And that was an honest answer but, the more I thought about it later, I realized that almost every character I write about (even the bad guys) has something in common with me.

For example, I love clichés and I use them a lot when I’m speaking. But, as all writers know, they’re frowned upon and considered lazy writing in novels. Writers are supposed to come up with new and innovative expressions even though clichés became clichés because they get the point across in a way that everyone immediately understands; they’re universal. But, that’s the way of the writing world. So, when Olivia, the octogenarian in my Malone Mystery series, says something like “Davey, you look like the cat that swallowed the canary,” because of her age, she can get by with it. I smile every time she does.

And, when one of my characters expresses an opinion or a vent that also happens to be how I feel, it feels good to put it on paper. For example, I am so tired of all the medically related commercials on TV these days and I mute most of them. As it happens, Louise, my main character’s mother-in-law, feels the same way. She wanted to throw something at her TV and shatter the screen when she saw the constant barrage of advertisements for one pill after another to treat everything from depression to a leaky bladder. The only thing that stopped her from destroying her television set was knowing how much it would cost to replace it. Now mind you, Louise is not one of my most likeable characters but she does make some valid points.

It’s said that writing is therapeutic and I believe that wholeheartedly. And, while I don’t think novels should be blatant crusades to further an author’s personal cause, I do think they make excellent vehicles for self-expression, especially when we occasionally let our characters speak for us.