The Reason I Became An Author

We all have those moments to look back on - the moment when you realized stories were your "thing", the moment when you first wrote "the end" on a novel. The moment when the first agent, or editor, or reader told you they loved what you'd written...

 

I love those moments, and I love that God always seems to bring them to me in those other moments - you know the ones, when you're discouraged, or afraid, or just downright frustrated.

 

My husband talked to me yesterday about things like perseverance and tenacity, and how authors need them, and how I have them, and how he was kind of blown away by that. I was grateful. Because the reality is, we all have an end-goal, right?

 

Well, I figured out today that there's more than one end-goal. Earlier this week I achieved a really practical one. And today I achieved a really emotional one.

 

My goal for this book was always that it would have a voice that was bigger than the story. (Thankfully, my publisher got that too, and they're helping me do something AWESOME next week - but more on that later).

 

Today I read a review that encapsulated everything I ever hoped someone would draw out of this book. It literally brought tears to my eyes - not because they applauded me as a writer, but because the story, for that reader, achieved what I'd always hoped it would achieve: to make them think about the ways we treat each other and ourselves.

 

If you want to, you can read the entire review here. But this was my favorite part. My first quote-graphic!

 

 

To me that quote is one of the most critical points in Ashley's story. I can't believe it's the first one to get pulled out by a reader. I am literally overjoyed. And, maybe very emotional. But let's pretend that isn't happening.

 

My point is, putting aside any other practicalities to do with money or careers, this is why I became a writer. This is what I wanted to see happen with my stories.

 

I wanted to see people reading and thinking and applying the things they were thinking to their own lives and the people around them. I wanted to start conversations - and even arguments. I wanted people to see cruelty through an objective filter. And I wanted people to feel.

 

This reader did all of that and more. I am so filled up with awesome right now, I could pop.

 

Your Turn: So what about you. Why did you become a writer?