Most writers can probably recall the exact moment when they "just knnew" they wanted to be a writer. It might be that first "A" on a book report, the first short story they ever wrote, or that moment when they finished a book and thought: "Well, I could have done better than that". For me it isn't so simple. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a writer. Yes, even when I was entertaining the notion of being a princess or a fairy, deep in my heart I still wanted to be a writer.
I was always a huge Buggs Bunny fan, but to this day, one of my favorite episodes is "A Witch's Tangled Hare" featuring Shakespere. Oh how I wanted one of those quill pens! I scribbled all these squiggly lines on my construction papaer and then rolled it into scrolls, which I would then pull out a recite "To be, or not to be" over and over to my stuffed animal audience. Yeah, I was a pretty twisted kid.
Okay, just when you thought I couldn't get stranger...I also used to pretend to be Earnest Hemingway. Yeah, I had some serious issues. My grandmother had this beautiful desk in her bedroom. It was a rich mahogany colored and to my young mind was the perfect desk for any "would be" writer. I used to sip Coca-Cola from a brandy sifter (again, I was odd) while scribbling out nonsense on notepads. Every now and then, just for good measure, I'd complain about the misery of writer's block.
Now that desk sits in my office, buried under notes about possible stories and surrounded by stacks of manuscripts in mid-edit. Obviously, I never became like Shakespere or Hemmingway. I'll never be "one of the greats", but I do write stories that people like to read now and then. I write about ghosts that come back to haunt the reincarnation of the wives that killed them, Irish gypsies that live forever, or secret witches in a small town. I've grown up, but every now and then, when the desk is cleared, I can still see the marks in the wood where I pressed the pencil too hard while making my scribbles. I look at that and remember I always wanted to be a writer...Thanks to Buggs Bunny, Coca-Cola, and Hemingway.
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