Why do we write?

I think one of the most interesting things about any type of art, whether it's drawing, writing, music, or anything else, is why the artist/writer/etc. does what he or she does. Some people are truly driven by a cause or some inspiration.

As for me, I can't really say it's anything like that, but mostly just a desire to tell stories. At first, I didn't even realize that I wanted to do that. In 6th grade, our English teacher would devote a part of the school year to creative writing. Back then I just went along with whatever was happening (although I did enjoy it very much). It wasn't until years later that I realized how awesome that was. At that age,of course, I had no idea what a little push could do - what a little nudge to do something creative could turn into. Looking back on it now (I was twelve then), I can see how impressionable the mind of a child that age is, and what some creative influence can do years down the road.

I really didn't do much with what I'd learned at first. In fact, it was probably about two years after the little stories I worked on in 6th grade until I started making outlines for my own comics. I would draw the covers (although I'm definitely not much of an artist), and have detailed outlines for what my super-powered crime fighters would get into. That was pretty much it for my high school years.

It wasn't until 2 years after I was out of high school that I had the first ideas for what would eventually become Feralia. I outlined those ideas for about 2 more years before starting the first draft. Finally, after 4 years of writing whenever I could, the novel was finished. ...And then, of course, it was about 4 more years to finally get all the loose ends together and get it published.

Wow... all together that ends up being a quick story that takes place over 19 years! If you count the earliest ideas and outlines, Feralia has been a big part of my life for 10 years, even though the book hasn't even been out for a year yet!

Any writers, artists, musicians, etc. reading? Leave a comment and tell me what your inspiration is!

- Clint