Thanks to an English assignment, I wrote and illustrated my first book in the third grade, “Jamie’s Walk Home” — I bet you can’t guess what it was about. It prompted my teacher, Mrs. Cushing, to write my very first review. She called me “a prolific writer.” At 10 years old, I had zero idea what that meant, but I lit up with what, to me, sounded like praise. I learned it meant that I wrote a lot. So maybe less of a review and more a statement of fact. Because I did write a lot. I talked a lot, too — an additional fact she was too polite to point out.
Writing, for some, comes early in life. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. For others, it comes later — with parenthood, in retirement, or some random Tuesday when an idea shows up and has to be written down. Laura Ingalls Wilder, of Little House on the Prairie fame, didn’t start writing until her forties and didn’t publish until her sixties. Proving what F. Scott Fitzgerald said: “It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be.” Or, to say whatever you want to say.
Writers are more than storytellers, they are magicians. Taking us to existing places we’ve never seen, or creating entirely new worlds rich enough to inspire dedicated fandoms and additional works of art. Writers can also teach us about our health, ourselves, and shine a light on new perspectives. I wouldn’t be who I am today without Melody Beattie or Elizabeth Gilbert…