The other day I got asked when was my magic moment?  When did I fall in love with writing and poetry? This really got me to thinking, and the truth is that one question brought me back to the roots of why I am working so hard to be successful at my craft.

Before I fell in love with writing, or even with poetry I fell in love with books. I was always reading well past my grade level. When I had finished every possible book that I had, I moved on to books that my older sisters and my parents had. I grew passionate about books. I loved the way the author could make the world around you crumble and build you back up into the world of the story. I was mesmerized by the characters who were villains and heroins. I learned to become emotionally involved with the stories and characters. Once I started a novel it overcame me and i was put in a trance-like state where I couldn’t put the book down until I had finished.

Then one day when I had read every book in the house multiple times, I picked up my pencil and started to create my own stories. I had always kept a diary ( later called a journal as I aged) so I would go through, pick a date and create a story based on what had happened on that date. Thus began my love of writing.

My love of poetry happened much later. Grade seven to be exact. Our project was to create a book of poetry complete with illustrations. Although I couldn’t draw to save my life, I loved the power that the words had. I knew I could rhyme different words and phrases to complete a thought. I loved the way the poem could evoke emotions and portray them with only using a limited amount of words. Just like that, my love of poetry was born. To this day I still have that book of poetry, my first “published” piece

The ironic thing is that although I’ve always been passionate about words, writing, poetry and books it wasn’t until a few years ago that I decided to bite the bullet and pursue it as a full time job. I’ve never looked back since.

My only hope now is that my words can cause some young person to dream big dreams, become emotionally involved with characters and plots and someday decide to pursue their dream of becoming an author.

So I ask – When was your magic moment?

xoxo

Elle

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