Why I Write: Past, Present & Future

Hmm...why do I write? If you asked me this question in second grade, I would simply say, "Writing is fun!" This is what made my writing so good. It was pure and innocent. There was no pressure. I wasn't writing for the sole purpose of getting the best grade or to impress other people. It was something that came easily to me, I was good at it. So naturally, I enjoyed it. I wrote stories of princesses, mermaids, magical kingdoms, and, of course, there was always the happy ending. This is what drove all of my writing. I was the little girl who fantasized of being a princess and falling in love with Prince Charming. Everything ended perfectly. "And they all lived happily ever after. The end."

In a way, I'm still that same little girl. I like to think of what my happy ending will be, coming straight out of the fairy tale books and movies. Writing gave me the opportunity to play things out the way I wanted to. I wrote to give people their own fairtytales and happy endings.

As I got older, writing became more academic and less creative. It was all essays and research papers. No more happy endings. No more writing in my free time.

Now, I write to keep myself organized. I write lists of things I need and want to do. It makes my to-do list more concrete and real; writing it down brings it to life. That is why I put my needs and wants down on paper. They are no longer just thoughts or things I can only fantasize about. The simple act of putting pen to paper makes it into something I can see and hold. My thoughts are acknowledged and no longer trapped. Now I know what I want and I know they are possible. I write to make things become reality.

But now, I want to bring "for fun" back into my writing life. Reading the stories I wrote when I was younger makes me realize those stories are a time capsule of my young imagination. I want to write what happens to me and the small things that make my day for the next two years of highschool. I want to capture these small details so I can look at them later in life and remember them as if it were yesterday, to know that it was real and it actually happened, just like my stories from elementary school. I want to write for the pure enjoyment of it!