I’m a writer.
Long before I made films, I was a nerdy little kid huddled up with too many library books. I wrote and read allllll the time. I escaped through reading and wrote characters I wanted to become.
I never had an audience. I just wrote for the sheer joy of writing. It was cathartic, peaceful, fun, and challenging.
As a high school student I wrote for our newspaper and literary magazine. I got to be an official photographer, writer, and editor. Journalism was fascinating and exciting.
I learned about the morals and ethics of storytelling. I discovered how images and words worked together for a specific audience. I gained valuable experience selling ads in the newspaper, which helped me understand how the entire media system works. I went out with my camera, note pad, and curiosity and covered the stories in my back yard for our high school newspaper. It was wonderful.
Then one day I heard the word “blog” and my world changed again. I was already journaling. (I always have kept journals, for better or worse.) So I started putting my thoughts online for the public. It felt natural, not scary. It was just another form of writing and publishing.
It’s possible that everything has changed since I started writing. I have changed. Technology has changed. How we consume words has changed. But my love for writing stays the same.
When the camera batteries die, my cell phone gets no signal, and the video camera runs out of storage space … I still have pen and paper. The way the pen feels when it meets paper means joy and freedom. I have these words that ceaselessly run through my mind. I am always writing.
Writing is my foundation, my background. It’s how I process things. It’s how I brainstorm. It’s how I share thoughts, ideas, and emotions.
My love for writing is also the reason I blog regularly. It keeps me sane. Even if no one reads it.