What would I be if I were not a writer?
This was this week's question to me from Elizabeth Morgan, and I had to really think about it, because I think I've always been a writer. I wrote my first short story (Little Miss Rainbow) at the age of eight, drew pictures on the A4 pages along with the story, folded them and stapled it all together to make a book. Then I think I sold it to my mum for 20p (haha - don't worry, she gets my books for free nowadays :p)
But hey, whaddaya know - I was self-publishing by eight years old!
I went on to write another short story at ten (on an old 1950s typewriter that belonged to my dad), started to keep a diary at twelve, wrote more short stories and poetry (lots of poetry) from the ages of fourteen right up 'til now, really, although they were intermittent. Of course, I was also a complete bookworm. When my friends went out partying, I would prefer to stay at home curled up with a good book. I would get through seven books a week - a book a day.
Throughout childhood, I also wanted to be a singer, a lawyer, an actress, and an astronaut. I ended up going to Drama School to try and fulfil one of those dreams and act out the others, but I didn't stick with the acting, because, with hindsight, I just had too many interests to really push myself into that industry. If you want to succeed in something, I think you have to be a little obsessed with it, to the extent where it becomes so ingrained into your life it's like an extra limb, or an organ. I didn't get that way with acting. I got that way with my 'metaphysical work' later on in life, but that's a whole different story...
And then, after giving birth to my daughter in 2009, I rediscovered self-publishing, and it was no longer this thing that cost £2,500 to do. With the invention and accessibility of the internet and companies like Lulu and CreateSpace, it became virtually free as long as you were prepared to put some hard work into it. Well, I'm all about the hard work when I am passionate about something. With writing, I had my passion back again, and it quickly turned into an obsession that remains.
So, I am a writer. Whatever else I choose to do, now or in the future, I will also write about it in some way or another - probably through fiction. Looking back, I can say that when I wasn't a writer, I was a little lost. I don't know if I could solely be anything else - perhaps a film director, or a photographer. I love telling stories through images and I have an amateur photo site here where I am very slowly uploading my photos. But I would still be a storyteller, even as a photographer. Writing is just my most natural medium :)
Dianna x
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This was this week's question to me from Elizabeth Morgan, and I had to really think about it, because I think I've always been a writer. I wrote my first short story (Little Miss Rainbow) at the age of eight, drew pictures on the A4 pages along with the story, folded them and stapled it all together to make a book. Then I think I sold it to my mum for 20p (haha - don't worry, she gets my books for free nowadays :p)
But hey, whaddaya know - I was self-publishing by eight years old!
I went on to write another short story at ten (on an old 1950s typewriter that belonged to my dad), started to keep a diary at twelve, wrote more short stories and poetry (lots of poetry) from the ages of fourteen right up 'til now, really, although they were intermittent. Of course, I was also a complete bookworm. When my friends went out partying, I would prefer to stay at home curled up with a good book. I would get through seven books a week - a book a day.
Throughout childhood, I also wanted to be a singer, a lawyer, an actress, and an astronaut. I ended up going to Drama School to try and fulfil one of those dreams and act out the others, but I didn't stick with the acting, because, with hindsight, I just had too many interests to really push myself into that industry. If you want to succeed in something, I think you have to be a little obsessed with it, to the extent where it becomes so ingrained into your life it's like an extra limb, or an organ. I didn't get that way with acting. I got that way with my 'metaphysical work' later on in life, but that's a whole different story...
And then, after giving birth to my daughter in 2009, I rediscovered self-publishing, and it was no longer this thing that cost £2,500 to do. With the invention and accessibility of the internet and companies like Lulu and CreateSpace, it became virtually free as long as you were prepared to put some hard work into it. Well, I'm all about the hard work when I am passionate about something. With writing, I had my passion back again, and it quickly turned into an obsession that remains.
So, I am a writer. Whatever else I choose to do, now or in the future, I will also write about it in some way or another - probably through fiction. Looking back, I can say that when I wasn't a writer, I was a little lost. I don't know if I could solely be anything else - perhaps a film director, or a photographer. I love telling stories through images and I have an amateur photo site here where I am very slowly uploading my photos. But I would still be a storyteller, even as a photographer. Writing is just my most natural medium :)
Dianna x
