Q: Writers say they write because they have to. Is that true of you? What happens if you don’t write? Do you cranky? Bereft? Restless?
-from Susan
Truth is, I’ve been writing since I was about seven years old and I can’t imagine a life without writing. I remember playing teacher at age seven with my younger, captive siblings, me writing assignments with my fingernails on green leaves in the yard. Yes, a writer!
At ten I wrote, edited, laid out, and published The Wolff Weekly, an illustrated broadsheet with heds, decks, and captions for my illustrations. Fortunately, given the kind of family news we generated, its circulation was extremely limited, but there were multiple copies - remember carbon paper? That I understood the shape and function of newspapers at that age suggests I was reading The Washington Post already.
High school was all about writing. School newspaper, yearbook, essays, A+ on every subject where writing was involved. I was awarded my first typewriter at a school assembly, and I am guessing few if any classmates were surprised.
And so it goes. My previous careers all revolved around writing: freelance and staff reporter, newspaper editor, publicity director, public relations, non-profit marketing and fundraising, strategic communications consulting. Watching and admiring people who can wait tables, decorate houses, climb scaffolding, and do their taxes, I realize that it’s a damn good thing I can write because I’d suck at anything else!
When I can’t work on a book in progress for a few days, I get distracted and edgy. When I am writing without a contract and deadline, I get itchy and unhappy. When the computer lid is closed, something is wrong. When I’m casting about for an idea…but, wait, I’m never short of ideas for what to write, often a happy escape from what I am writing.
Hello, my name is Susan and I’m a writer.
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