So what inspires you to write? It doesn’t have to be a novel or a short story–it could be a journal or anything. For years I put writing last on my list of things to do. Everything else was much more important. When I worked in IT, I worked very long hours and my life was planned around being on-call or rolling out a new system. Writing? Who had time for that?
Since I love to write, why wasn’t I doing it? I was convinced it didn’t matter. That it wasn’t important because work was more important. And I don’t mean writing work, I mean work done in the workplace. You know, the work you do at a desk in a cube. That was real work. Writing was not. At least that’s what I told myself year after year.
Well, I was wrong. And I had to go through a lot of crap in order to realize it. After trying to fit myself into a mold that didn’t fit me, I finally accepted it. I’m a writer and I’m going to write.
Not that I didn’t enjoy working in IT for a time. I did. But even after I knew it was time to move on, I didn’t. Finally when I got tired of holding on, I let go. And after a few more twists and turns, I started writing again. Everyday. And now, my first novel is done (after about 3 previous attempts) and my next one is almost done.
Is it easy to let go and let it happen? Nope. But it was worth it.