Writing is Part of Me

For as long as I can remember I have been a storyteller. When I was a small child and my writing abilities were lacking, I would create stories with my dolls and with my sisters. As I got older, my writing developed and I'd write plays that I'd force my sisters to act out. And when they didn't want to act out my stories, I'd act out the stories with my Barbie dolls. In high school, I was faced with quandary-my stories required more than three actors and it was no longer socially acceptable to play with Barbie dolls. (I broke this rule last year when David and I used his G.I. Joe action figures to work out some scenes of My Not So Normal Life: Spy Recruit). It was then that I began to write My Not So Normal Life. The original draft was written during study hall and at home on looseleaf paper in a binder with an advertisement of Alias stuck on the cover. I finished the first two books of My Not So Normal Life by the time I was 18 and I thought I was done. I started college, and on my first day working the reference desk in the library I began another book. College turned out to be a prolific writing time for me. I wrote a five book series in composition notebooks and a standalone romance book. I got more book ideas that flooded my brain, wanting to burst out. But time was not on my side and I decided to put my writing aside for Law School. Three years of law school, writing papers and legal briefs, I found myself missing the writing. But more than that, I felt like I lost a part of my identity. During the initial years of working, I suppressed my writing. What I found was a part of my soul was missing. Three years ago I decided to stop denying the writer within and began to make writing a part of my life, permanently. Now, I am not saying that I write every day; because there are times that I will take a break from writing, but in the last three years, I have never deprived myself of writing. I allow my mind to develop the stories. I think about the characters and plot twists. What I discovered in the last three years is how central writing is to my identity. Of the words that are at the core of my being- daughter, sister, partner, friend, believer, dog mom, godmother- writer, is up there. "Attorney" is more on the fringes, along with homeowner and Chicagoan.