The Life of an Author

I've always be creative, doing things differently even if it was just my way of doing it. And yes, I've been chewed out for it many times. But hey, if you have to copy everyone else, how are you supposed to learn who you are as an individual? Yeah, I don't know either lol.

I've been thinking outside the box before that became a catch phrase for Taco Bell (I believe that's the place who uses it lol). I was teased and bullied because I was different. And that same difference made those same kids like me in the end. When they grew up and saw the error of their ways, that is. And they all asked for forgiveness. It was long before that when I already forgave them so it was all good. At least they did ask, which made me feel better. Just the same, it will always be a part of me so the pain will never be forgotten. It shaped me into the person I am today so without it I don't think I would've become a writer or ever get published turning me into an author. So I do have them to thank for that.

I've always enjoyed crafts. I think growing up art class was my favorite. I wasn't the best in the class but I didn't have to be. I think that's what's so cool about art, even the worse pieces can be called "art" because it does force a reaction from the viewer (even if it is a bad reaction). It causes you to feel something and that's what's important. Of course, writing doesn't work the same way--you do have to be somewhat good at telling stories. I'm so glad that I do have that quality. I owe that to my imagination.

I like putting myself in the middle of some other place, even if it is make-believe. It doesn't matter if the place isn't real because inside my mind, it really is real. And that world is transferred onto paper which is awesome because now other people can visit my world and enjoy it's beauty from my own perspective. They can listen to the people in that world, experience their lives, and learn something new. The more I created, the more I fell in love with the idea of it. The more I loved it, the more I wrote. It is such a piece of who I am that I can't live without it! I am more than the writer but without writing, I am nothing. And after I'm gone, people can go on reading my words; living in the worlds that I created. How perfect is that? To be able to live on after you're gone? Other than art, how many professions are there that a person has that ability? Acting is a form of art, by the way lol. Teachers come and go, officers come and go. Their memories live on and those memories are cherished. But their ideas and thoughts vanish after a while. Artists, actors, and writers get to keep on moving people, angering them or making them laugh or cry. I get to be part of a world that get's to do that. It is so awesome!

When I write a story, I put myself in the shoes of the characters whose point of view I'm using. I see what they see, I feel what they feel. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I laugh. It does get embarrassing when done in a public place but it's part of life. I deal with it lol. When someone asks, I just tell them I'm writing and I lost myself in the story. And that usually springs up a conversation, I'm more than happy to have. It's amazing how many people never met a real author before and there are millions of us walking down streets, eating in restaurants, being neighbors. We blend in with everyone unlike actors who are always in the spotlight. We live normal lives, pay our bills, and try to do right by everyone else. Then we get to escape into our own little worlds where we make the rules. I don't want any other profession.

Being creative is the fun part of writing. Those rules change for each story, sometimes even in the middle of the same story. Gravity? What's that? Superman defied it. Who said a human can't become a spider? Surely not the creator of Spiderman. They made their own rules. And I made my own as well. And when that story is done, saying goodbye is hard because you devote so much yourself writing the places and people that you don't want to leave them. But the sacrifice is worthwhile because now you have a book and that book can be passed down from one person to another, read over and over, felt by thousands if not millions of people. And that is such a good feeling that you almost have to do it over again. I love that feeling. The accomplishment is big.

Then you begin a new story and you become attached to new characters and dive in fully to their new world; and the process starts all over again. You say goodbye, and then hello to new friends and foes. The cycle keeps rotating. Before you know it, you have a handful of stories and more fans than you know what to do with. But you don't stop writing because now you can't breathe without it. The need to put words on paper becomes who you are. And you like it. No, you love it.

And that my friend, is the life of an author.


A.R. Grosjean