Imagination

“There are few things, apparently, more helpful to a writer than having once been a weird little kid.”

- Katherine Paterson

Me at 7 in one of my favorite places in the world - Point Lobos, CA

I started writing stories at the age of nine or so and haven't stopped since. I don't remember ever making the conscious decision to become a writer; it just became a natural part of my life. This was probably related to my heavy reading addiction; my parents read to me constantly when I was young, and I picked up the skill easily once I got to school. As much as I am always writing, I am also always reading. Usually several books. (Maybe that's why I can't focus on writing one novel at a time either?)

So there's the reading habit (which my brother and I naturally inherited from our very literate parents) which undoubtedly contributed to my becoming a writer. But there's also the fact that I never stopped living in the land of make believe and imagination. All kids know this land. I think I was just slower to outgrow it. Sometimes I feel like I never left it behind at all.

My younger brother and I grew up Army Brats and never lived in any neighborhood longer than two years until we were in high school. It follows that we became close friends, often the only companion we could rely on in a new place. Because we both had such wild imaginations, we began to build worlds of imaginary games for use in any situation. Outside, in the house, on the playground, during long car rides, on the way to school in the mornings... We had a game for every situation. Toys are material things that break and get lost. Friends move or are left behind. Imaginary worlds built between siblings? They last forever.

We were Californian bandits in the mountains who discovered a tappable source of superpowers. We flew as dragons across vast ice fields. We traveled the Oregon Trail. We built and lived in monasteries where the inhabitants were anything but celibate. We became animals dependent on the annual salmon run. We lived through floods and earthquakes and hurricanes. We performed on television. We worshiped a pantheon of animal gods and carved our weapons to keep us safe from mercenaries. We gathered food as native Americans. We lived as slaves. We got cholera and recovered. We wielded lightsabers and pokeballs with equal vehemence. We played out epic and twisted romances.

I'd been creating characters forever when I finally began to write some of them down. Soon I'd meet other friends who were doing the same thing and we'd begin to write together, feeding off each other's wild creativity to create some truly wonderful worlds and people.

And now it's to the point where I can't think of how to be happy unless this is the primary purpose in my life.