Living the Fictional Dream

I don’t have a big blog topic to talk about today, so I thought I’d turn the spotlight around on you guys.

What is your absolute favorite part of writing? Why do you return to the keyboard day after day? It’s a fairly frustrating job — lots of work for little to no money (unless you make it big with a novel, and even then midlist authors are having a hard time squeaking by these days).

I answer that last question easily. I write because I have to write. I would be making up stories in my head anyway. I might as well write them down. And if I’m going to bother writing them down, then I should make them the best they can be, and see if anyone else out there thinks they are worth sharing. I don’t expect to get rich or famous of off it (though I’ll take it if it comes!).

My favorite part of writing, though, has to be that escape. I love disappaering into someone else’s world, seeing that world through their eyes, and yet also having a hand in creating that world. Getting into the creative zone is an amazing feeling. Nonwriters don’t understand when I say I’m not making all this up — the characters tell me what’s going on. But it’s true, and any writer knows it!

I also really love creating characters and world building and all the intricacies there-in. Those are my favorite parts of the creative process itself, but my favorite thing about writing, the escape of the creative zone — definitely!