Inspiration to Write: Part 2

People have asked me why I write. The answer is simple. There is a story in me that is trying to get out. It often starts as a single scene, manipulated by the spark of creativity and imagination. That one scenario may play in my mind for days, gradually growing in depth and dimension until it begins to bang on the doors of my head, as if to say, “Write me down so I can come to life.”
For many years, insecure in my ability to express ideas through words, I ignored this call, using other artistic methods to placate my creativity. The stories in my mind remained mere picture books, silent movies that only I could read. I’d like to thank that college professor who first challenged me to throw away the formulas beat into me throughout high school and give a voice to the characters that lived inside of me.
I still remember the very first class. The teacher sat on her desk and told us to focus on creativity and not to worry about grammar and spelling. Silently I cheered. Grammar has never been a problem, but spelling was and is my long-time nemesis. Personal computers were only available to the very wealthy at that time, so my first assignment was written longhand. I got an A. Then the teacher politely requested that those of us with ‘artistic’ handwriting please write every other line.