How long have you been writing? I grew up as an only child and I started writing when I was very young....Do you wrap a large part of your identity around being a writer? I know I do...Something seems to "die off" inside of me if I go too long without writing something...It's in my blood. I have to express what's inside of me in order to feel sane and "true to myself." How about you? Thanks for listening. Happy New Year!

I've been writing one thing or another ever since my grandmother taught me to read. When I was a kid, I made my own comic books, which actually helped me with things like visualizing characters and scenarios.

As I got older, I realized how much I loved writing, and how important it was for me to be involved in something creative. I tried music for awhile, but the need for collaboration made it impossible for me to get the results I wanted. Writing is much more of an individual pursuit, and it works much better for me.

I do wrap a large part of my identity around being a writer -- probably because it's one of only a very few things I can do with any degree of proficiency....

And it is a tremendous outlet to have. I put a lot of myself, my thoughts and ideas and beliefs, into my characters and my stories. In fact, I would almost have to say that my first book was cathartic....

Since 2008, I've had five books published, and I can't imagine life without writing. At this point, it's (literally) all I've got!

I've been writing since I was 6. When I was a teenager, I used writing as a form of therapy. It was the only way I was able to express myself. It was the only way to keep the anger from building. I still love to write. It's in my blood as well and I don't know what I would do without it. It's a part of me and it helps keep me sane.

since august of 2007, still have way too much to learn, but every once in a while i think i do get one right.

When I was 11, there was a contest in
the Oakland Tribune.
It was to write an essay on 'Who is God?'
So I wrote my piece and sent if off.
It was an interesting summer, my Mother
and her new boyfriend had kidnapped my
sister and myself and hidden us at the beach.

When we were returned, there was a huge box
awaiting.
I had won the contest, and the prize was a
leather-bound set of Encyclopedia Britannica,
dark red. It smelled so beautiful.

When I ran out of anything to read I would
absorb myself in those encyclopedias.
I am thinking there is a distinct correlation
between reading, and wanting to write.

I'm really not much of a writer. Occassionally when I'm troubled over something I can sit down at the PC & just start typing away & something good will sometimes come through.

I use to enter Library Writing Comps when I was a child, so have been writing forever and a day...Love it...

I only write as a hobby, I have tons of poems and its a good stress reliever to write down whats on my mind curse words and all, I have it all on paper so its not on my mind, I don't remember when I started writing, I do know that I have always loved reading and writing, I express myself better through writing.

Thanks for your posts! How much time do you usually devote to writing each day? Do people in your life understand your need to write and your devotion to writing? Just curious...Thanks.

It varies. I may go 2 weeks without even looking at the latest project, then I may do 26 pages in a day. Sometimes it flows, and if it doesn't, it's best not to try to force it.



I can't answer that, as there is really no one in my life anymore. In the past, I think people accepted it as one of my eccentricities. There would be the occasional "How can you sit there and write stuff for hours on end?" but those people were simply proving to me that they had no concept of the beauty of the creative process.

Thanks for sharing. Are you working on a project right now?

Several. I'm working on "Moving Targets," which is a sequel to my first book, "Moving Day." Then I'm doing a collection of comic strips (just finished the scans for that one). After that, I'll either be doing "Ganzedi" or "White Rainbow," both of which are partially done and both of which figure into the "Moving Day" storyline. There's also a poetry book in the works and something called "The Backenfort Anthology." Down the road will be "Phosi" (an epilogue to "Moving Day") and "Philosophies of an Outcast."

Thanks for writing. Good luck with everything. I'd like to hear more about "Philosophies of an Outcast" and everything else too. Thanks.

when I was in HS, a teacher told me I would never be able to articulate through written. It seemed silly and contrary to my understanding at the time.
Occasionally I would pen thoughts only to have them made fun of.

I wrote letter to friends and family members whom I had never met. They enjoyed them.

It was after my husband died, my expression became prolific, a pouring out.
In some form or another, I put to pen, something. Those around me are only just beginning to understand this part of me.

I’ve been writing since I was 12, for me writing is a release, an inner journey that has helped me find myself, my voice. I can get lost and find myself while writing it’s hard to explain it’s somewhat euphoric even healing.

I been writing since I was a child,
Later on I took to the guitar...mix them together you get a song

I wrote a little poetry as a kid. Wrote technical and scholarly articles for 30 years and now enjoy a some occasional poetry again.
Does chat and email count?

I THINK I have been writing all my life,
As a little boy I was felled with fear and strife.
So IN-MY-HEAD, I played out all that was bad,
and turned them into my own funny little fad.
I wrote sounds and plays and musicals all in memory.
For I never really wrote or read, just found my Harmony.
See never have I read a book, because at eight, I had to cook.
And school and me, well its good you didn't see...
So into a man I was thrown, and into me I was born.
My first REAL writing was on these pages here.
Four years ago, as I typed (plucked) what I held dear.
Just my thoughts transposed into words to read.
So everyone could feel my heart, and all that it had to bleed.
Like YOU NOW,,reading me for your first time.
I felt it would be truly cute, to give you me in a RHYME,,,wink.

i stated when i was about 16, somtimes i go for a while without actually writing anything, but then ill have a few months of writing poems. somtimes expressing how i feel helps, even if its just a few lines. i havnt posted many on here because i dont think they are suitable for such a homely enviroment.

love all your poems, keep them coming