How did you know?

Someone asked me an interesting question the other day. They said, ‘how did you first know you wanted to be an author?’ 

As far as I can remember, I’d always wanted to write. I remember walking through the bookstore as a kid looking for the latest Animorphs book in the middle grade section and taking the time to locate the spot on the shelf where my book would one day fit when I was a published author. 

Before that, I remember learning to type in grade school and despairing that I’d never be fast enough to write a whole novel. Back then I typed with two fingers and had to find each letter as I went. 

Then, of course I remember early writing prompts and working on my first few short stories and how I wished I could write more, that the assignments were longer because a few pages was never enough space to tell a story. 

I wrote my first novel in grade nine, and the second one shortly after. Then I learned to edit and rewrite, and write every day and not just when motivation struck. It took a lot of practice to get to where I am today and with each book, I keep learning. 

So I don’t know how I knew I wanted to be an author, or even when I knew, but I must have wanted it pretty badly to go from dreaming of my book on the shelves to owning my own publishing house. 

How did you know you wanted to write?

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