Read Online A Valentine for Harlequin's Anniversary by Catherine Mann - Free Book Online Page B

actions. It’s true. The episode really did happen. Then there was the time I was caught doodling in class and had to write another essay about the “Art of Doodling.” Instead of it being a punishment, as it was intended to be, I took it as a challenge. I have no idea what I wrote all those years ago, but I do remember being fairly satisfied with the result.
    In the years that followed I did my stint writing poetry, some of which I’ve kept. Reading it now, I have absolutely no idea what I was thinking at the time, though I have to admit some of the word combinations are sort of intriguing. Then came my tours of duty in the Air Force and all the letters I wrote home. Writing to a friend of mine, he suggested I ought to consider becoming a writer. I dismissed the notion without a second thought.
    The change came years later, when I let my wife read a fictional scene I’d written. She suggested I join the local writers club. I didn’t even know there was one! It was her way of politely saying I needed help, but it was also her way of encouraging what she saw as potential. Looking back on it now, I realize that was a watershed moment. If I hadn’t shown her that drivel, and if she hadn’t pointed me in the right direction…
    What if…It’s a game that’s led to a lot of stories.
    Whether I write for fun or publication, I think I’ll always write. There is, as I say, a kind of instinctive urge to string words together in such a way that they convey something special to me.
    — Ken Casper
www.kncasper.com
    #43
    When I’m speaking at workshops or conferences, one of the questions I frequently hear is, “Why do you write?” My humorous attempt at answering that is, “If I didn’t write, I’d be medicated.” I mean, seriously, if you hear characters talking to you, you’re a writer. If you hear people who only live in your head talking to you…well, you might have a problem!
    The more serious answer is, I write because I have to. All the stuff that goes on in my head needs somewhere to go. All the stories, all the characters, all the abstract ideas. If I kept them bottled up, with nowhere to release them, I’d probably explode under the weight of it all. So, I write because it’s better than exploding. LOL

    But the question I was supposed to be answering is, why do I keep writing? I’ll confess, there are days that I wonder myself. Days when words aren’t flowing. Days when all the characters in my head are taking a vacation. Days when the idea of heading to the keyboard seems like too much of an effort. Days where the family needs my total attention. And maybe I’ll skip a day at the keyboard. Maybe I’ll read, or watch tv, or play PTA mom. But then the characters come back, the ideas and words start rolling around and around, looking for someplace to escape to…and I don’t just walk, but I run to my keyboard to let them all out.
    I started to write, and I keep writing, because for me, there’s no alternative. I’m not sure if any writer can just quit. It would be akin to saying, I think I’ll stop smelling today. Or tasting. Or hearing. Or quite simply, breathing. I can’t stop.
    I just got back from a week’s vacation and though I didn’t actually work, I’ve got a notepad filled with scribbled ideas, bits of dialogue and just observations. I can’t not-write, which is why I don’t quit. So, to answer the question, why do you KEEP writing, what’s your inspiration? The answer is, I have to write, or else I’d explode. (And just imagine what a mess that would make???)
    — Holly Jacobs
www.hollyjacobs.com
    #44
    What keeps me writing is the striving to close the gap between the world that I imagine, and the words that finally make their way onto the page. When I get it right, the satisfaction is boundless.
    It doesn’t matter what you do, whether it’s writing, baking, scrapbooking, knitting, photography, painting, designing houses or whatever. For me, it’s the sheer satisfaction in