I would like to say that I’ve always been a writer, but that isn’t precisely true, since I couldn’t always write. Before learning to write, I was a just very animated story-teller. Prior to that, I don’t remember what I was like so I don’t feel it’s fair for me to say.

The first time I actually remember writing a story was in the second grade. Then the teacher, (good woman that she was) “published” it by laminating two sheets of colored paper, sticking my story in between them and using one of those plastic binding machines. I was pretty proud of myself.

By telling you this, I am by NO means trying to assert that I’m gifted. Though I’m not sure where the little story book is now, I do remember coming across it later in life and being absolutely appalled.

You might think I’m using some strong words to describe second grade me and her writing, but I’m actually very serious. The story was about a kitten. Cute, right? Well, this kitten ran away from home and was brutally killed and eaten by coyotes. The story was accompanied by some very graphic illustrations of crayoned cat blood and guts.

In modern society, I would have probably been sent to see a psychiatrist right away. Instead, I’ve reconciled the terribleness of that story with the fact that I’ve always been incredibly curious. (Yes, I went there… The title told you I would)

Curiosity propels my writing. At that age, I was curious about what happened to a barn cat when it never came home to the farm.  I found out the truth, and then I wrote about it in explicit detail.  Apparently, delicacy and tact came later in life. Maybe they haven’t arrived yet. Who knows?

When I try to figure out why more people aren’t writers, it occurs to me that some people have outgrown being curious. All children have an inquisitive nature. There is such a thing as a “why” stage in children (Moms, back me up). Some people just stop asking or get so busy with other things that they never stop to wonder.

Other people don’t write because they think it’s difficult. It isn’t. Even I can do it. Everyone can write because everyone has a story. One of those stories could be the greatest novel of our time. Not that I have some secret agenda to turn the world into authors. I just believe in not using difficulty as an excuse.

After 417 words on my history of writing and why I believe people don’t write, I finally get to the point.

I write because there are things I want to share. I have an imagination and a thirst for knowledge that urge me to find answers and tell them to people.

Maybe I can make somebody laugh. Maybe I can answer a question you didn’t even know you had. I might even unearth someone else’s curiosity. There are so many stories and ways of telling them that I couldn’t possibly sit still and let it pass without scribbling away in my notebook or furiously typing on my keyboard.

Long story short… on top of all this… I write because I love to.  Why not share it with the world while I’m at it?