Tuesday, February 26, 2013

My Guest, Liz DeJesus

Why I write...

By Liz DeJesus
I get asked this question pretty often (all the time actually). Why do I write? And there are a lot of reasons why I choose to be a writer, why I pour my heart out day after day. It really depends what mood I'm in because the answer changes. So because I feel like telling you...here's a list of reasons why I'm a writer.

1. My mom is a writer and I wanted to be just like my mom. This is very true. I remember waking up every morning to the sound of my mom tapping her fingers against her keyboard (back then it was a typewriter). The gently click clack of the keys was the best thing to wake up to. I kinda miss that sound. Anyway, one day my mom gave me her typewriter (she bought a new one) and I felt as though I had been given the greatest gift of my life. At ten years old I felt like this moment would be forever etched in stone. I've been in love with the written word ever since. :)
2. I was lonely. Actually...I was a lonely, shy, nerdy, introverted girl with only a couple of friends. The rest of the time I was at school being bullied by the students (and some of the teachers) because I was different. So I spent most of recess hiding in the library where no one could find me. I felt safe surrounded by books. They never hurt, or insulted me. Never told me to shut up. So it was only natural that I would gravitate towards the one thing in life that made me feel safe. Books.

3. I loved books. I remember this one book that I read over and over again when I was twelve. It's titled The Curious Clubhouse by Christine Govan. It was my very first grown up book (it had a lot of chapters). It was another important moment for me. This was the one book that made me feel as though I wasn't the only one that was being picked on or pushed aside. I wanted to write a book for that girl that was lonely just like me. I wanted to write a story that would let that person know that he/she wasn't alone in the world. That they matter. That they're important. That it's okay to be different.
4. I have a very overactive imagination. I'm pretty sure if I didn't write my brain would literally explode. And I mean....KABOOM! Brain chunks everywhere.

5. I once had a boyfriend tell me that my manuscript would be dipped in red ink if an editor ever got a hold of it. So I wrote another novel out of revenge. And it got published and I'm still getting royalty checks. So it's okay to write out of revenge. (And yeah....I dumped his sorry, un-supportive ass).
6. Because someone told me I couldn't write in a specific genre. A long time ago someone left a comment on my blog saying that I would never be able to write a horror novel. Challenge accepted! I wrote a horror short story and a novel and both got published (under my pen name, I recently got the rights back to that novel and I'm revising it to submit it to another publisher).

7. To impress a boyfriend. When I was thirteen I got into poetry to impress my first boyfriend. He was cute. Don't judge me....you would've done the same. Turned out I was actually pretty good so I stuck with it.
8. Another boyfriend told me that I would never amount to anything (yeah...I had a really bad string of boyfriends, I had to kiss a lot of frogs before I found my prince) and I told him that one day he would see my name in lights. Still working on that. And knowing me the way I do...I'll make it happen. ;-)

9. Because I heard an awesome song and all of a sudden a scene popped into my head that was begging to be written.
10. Crazy dreams. Trust me, that's how I get my most amazing ideas.

And these are some of the reasons why I write. Anyway I hope you enjoyed my little blog post. :)
Thanks for coming by, Liz!! And it's kind of scary how many of our reasons overlap!

Check out her books at www.musapublishing.com and of course on Amazon, B&N, etc.!

12 comments:

  1. Love this, Liz! I can relate to so many of these but number one melted me. My daughter wants to be a writer just like mom...awwww...

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  2. Understand the shy & lonely...sounds like my childhood.

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    1. Shy and lonely was the story of my life. LOL Until I made a conscious effort to be more outgoing when I went into high school. It helped a little bit. First time in my life I actually had friends. :)

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  3. Great reasons, Liz. Number 5 was not on my list, but something like that would soooo drive me to write!!!

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    1. Thanks! And #5 is no joke. This actually happened to me. I wish I were making that one up. But no...true story.

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  4. I'm on board with #4, Liz! What the hell do you do with all those senarios playing out in your head? It was a no-brainer: become a writer! Cheers!

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  5. #s 2 and 3 are me all over! I'm glad you became a writer. First Frost is pure magic!

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  6. Thanks for coming out today, Liz!! I agree with so many of these too. Great post!

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    1. Thanks Arley! I really appreciate you having me on your blog. :)

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