Blogfest 2009

Always. I think it has to be that way. You don’t write from the outside in, you write from the inside out. Writing is a lot like acting – you must BE the main character while you’re writing, or it doesn’t feel authentic. You can’t help but put a little bit of yourself into the character, and take some of that character with you when you’re done. I find that I’ve learned valuable lessons from the characters I’ve created.

Being a writer isn’t just a job, it’s a big part of who you are. You can’t separate your life from your writing. You’re always a writer, wherever you go. People ask me where my office is, and I tell them that it’s in my head. I’ve been a writer for so long, I honestly can’t tell you what my daily life would be like without it. I see everything in terms of story, metaphor, dialogue, and a search for deeper meaning in all of life’s activities.

Shape-shifting. Definitely. That’s like having all the superpowers wrapped into one. If you want to fly, you become a hawk, if you want super speed, you can become a cheetah. Dive to the bottom of the ocean? You can be a whale. Plus, you can be anybody you want to be as well, and still have the benefit of coming back to being yourself at the end of the day. What could be better? I think writing is like mental shape-shifting, but it would be cool to be able to do it physically as well!

The first thing I remember writing was a Halloween story in third grade. My teacher (who didn’t like me very much) gave me a D-minus on it, because in this story, the ground opened up, swallowed my third grade teacher, and closed up again, squirting blood everywhere (I didn’t like her much either.) She used to get so annoyed at me, she would throw me out of the classroom, and send me to the library just to get rid of me. That’s where I developed a love of reading, and eventually writing.