Guest blogger Lia Answers "Why Writing?"

 Welcome Lia to Red Wolf's Room.  In a previous post, I wrote about my reasons for turning to writing and now I have asked another writer what her motivations were and are:

Writing has always been my biggest passion. I grew up with stories. I was the kid who made up elaborate stories with her toys. I had a natural talent for writing, and all my teachers growing up encouraged me to pursue it. When I fully understood my love for storytelling, it quickly became something I took very seriously.

With my involvement in NaNoWriMo this year, I’ve had to learn how to write under pressure. As such, I’ve noticed two key factors which help whenever I find myself struggling.

Music:

I’m someone who relies heavily on music, not only for writing, but for the development of my story-line. I could be sitting on the bus, mindlessly listening to my iPod, when I’ll have a revelation, inspired by a lyric or a melody, regarding a plot point that had me stuck. Music’s also a great way to block out the world when you know you need to focus.

Some chill songs that have helped me: “Hourglass” by MindyGledhill, “I’ll Be Your Mirror” by The Velvet Underground, and “Comes And Goes(In Waves)” by Greg Laswell.

Setting:

I find I work best at night when the house is quiet and with all the lights shut off. Everything settles down and the world goes blank, making it easier for things to come alive. Also, I’ve found that my brain-to-Word Document filter is less present, making it easier to get what’s in my mind out in words.

Second best place for writing? A quiet, school library. Being surrounded by people doing work is really motivating when you feel like procrastinating. If not, I’ll settle for a Starbucks, happy to have a warm Vanilla Latte at my side while I toil over churning out another 1,000 words.

It’s my first year participating in NaNoWriMo, and while I consider it difficult, it’s also been an incredibly rewarding experience. It pushes you as a writer to write more than you thought you could, to think past the writer’s block and the lack of “inspiration”. As such, it’s something I definitely recommend any aspiring writers try, if only because it teaches you a lot about yourself as a writer.

 Thank you, Lia, for sharing a bit about yourself.  I'm sure there are others out there who can relate to you.  Well, people?  What's your story?  Why Writing?