Why I Write

I wish I could say that I write on my own time, and that I have written something outside of a school assignment but that isn't true. Everything I have written was because it was assigned for a class, I took the SAT, or because the common app requires an essay. The one exception to this, was right after our haiku unit in elementary school. When I finished my haiku for class, I attempted to write some of my own, but I quickly gave up when I realized how bad I was at it.

I am not opposed writing. In fact, I have some good ideas for a few stories. My only problem is that I don't know how to expand. When writing stories for school, I have always found that it is hard expand it into a decent story, let alone a book. My diaglog sound cheesy. I don't know where to add details, and I don't use enough imagery. Even though I know what is wrong with my writing, I don't know how to fix it. It should be easy right? I have read hundreds of books so I should know by now how the author does it. Yet to this day it still fascinates me how authors are able to expand an idea into a four hundred page book. When you read, a good book doesn't feel like the author has filled the book with extra nonsense to make it longer. It feels like each word adds to the final product.

Off on a tangent, I have always wondered how so many people can write books. It can't be that easy can it? Politicians and comedians are always coming out with books but I never know if the person actually wrote it or if they hired somebody to write it for them. So I went online and figured out that many of these books are written by ghost writers http://www.worldwidefreelance.com/freelance-writing/ghostwriting/28-what-is-a-ghostwriter.   So at least it's not everyone but me who can write. Even famous politicians need help!

Although I think if I did write, I would write for fun and entertainment. I don't like books where the characters have some deep inner turmoil, and then end up killing themselves by the end of the book.  I would want to write something that people could enjoy, something that would expand the imagination. Personally, I like science fiction, and I think that would be what I would write. I like to image the unknown and think about what our future may hold. I am frustrated by the fact that we are stuck on earth. It would be a lot more exciting to get in a space ship and travel across the universe meeting strange creatures and discovering new things. But because I can't hop in a spaceship and leave, I settle for reading about it, and I hope that someday I can give my own adventures to the public.