The excellent writing blog Confident Writing recently issued a group writing challenge, addressing the always fascinating topic “My Love Affair With Writing.” My entry is as follows, please enjoy.

*************************************************

        I actually tried to deny the crush at first.

        I didn’t think that I had the time, didn’t think that I had the skill, didn’t think that it was in my future, so I did everything I could to shelve the thoughts and ignore the butterflies that flitted about in my stomach whenever the idea crossed my mind.

        As the months passed however, and my feelings refused to change, I finally accepted that what I really wanted was a relationship. Still, I was nervous, cautiously toying with ideas up in my head but never committing, only half-heartedly pursuing a few false starts.

        I would probably still be scared to take the plunge today had I not been fortunate enough to meet the right sort of people who offered me the right sort of encouragement. They demanded the best from me, they expected passion, they wouldn’t be pleased until I gave it my all and made the relationship happen.

        So one morning I woke before my usual hour, fixed my coffee, sat down at my computer, and began to write.

        And I have been writing ever since.

        Even before I began writing, I was a voracious reader, and learned far more from books than school. Nevertheless, despite my tendency to juggle multiple books at a time and an inordinate pride in my book collection, my love affair with writing has redefined the manner in which I process the written word. I still consume more than I produce, but to me, reading and writing exist in harmony; for every article I review, and all the pages I peruse, I read beyond the surface and into the rhetoric, the style, figuring out what succeeds and what does not and how I can incorporate it all into my own work. If anything, this very public affair has pushed me into bookstores and libraries even more often, led me to new genres and authors, and introduced me to the countless blogs that I track in spare, fleeting moments.

        When I write, I stretch beyond what I already know; I delve into new topics, track new trends, examine issues from different viewpoints and biases. I enter a different world, where my words and words alone represent me, where I can reach out and connect and network with people I could never meet in real life. I reflect on my life, on the state of the world, and analyze problems and rationalize solutions. Or, if it has been a particularly gnarly day, I sit down to write and create a whole other reality, where my troubles can’t reach me and I alone control the ending.

        I do not expect my love affair with writing to end anytime soon, as I envision only a bright future ahead. So may this serve as a thank-you to all of those who have supported me this far, and I extend only my best wishes for many writing-filled years ahead.