I don't know if I can answer that. When I'm sitting there looking at a blinking cursor, willing words to come that have no interest in being typed, all I want to do is throw my computer out of a high building and never write another word (write, type, whatever). Trying to scribble down a thought that might be something or might be nothing, a thought that refuses to be tied down to the page, I've snapped pens before. So why continue to do it? I'd love to make some money doing it eventually. . .or rather, I intend to make some money doing it. I know that statistically speaking it's unlikely, but I've always distrusted statistics. Probably something to do with having a maths teacher who would correct my work with his too-soft hands, leaving chalk dust all over my notebooks. Ugh. Anyway <he says, shaking himself back from distant memories>, I've somehow managed to convince myself that one day I'll make a living as a writer, and not be tied down to one place. I'll be able to travel the world, periodically sending in work to an agent, and not miss out on important life events of friends and family. Wedding in Australia? No problem, the flight will give me time to edit my latest work. You want to go to Oktoberfest with me? Well, it has been twelve years since I last went, and it's a brilliant place to people watch.

But I think the truth is, I enjoy it. Surprisingly enough, for something that's so close to schoolwork, I enjoy writing. Never liked it in school, but now I don't have to do it, I find myself wanting to do it. And in the past, what, two years? that I've decided to write, it's changed me more than I would have thought probable. Every random little thought, almost as soon as I've had it, I wonder if it would make a good story. I see people on the street or in the casinos or at the airport, and I think about them as a basis for something. I pick apart my own life and think about which parts might work for a story. And now, instead of having run out of things to write about, I'm almost worried that I won't have time to tell them all.

I think about the phrase "we've all got one book in us," and can't decide if it's true or not. Maybe on average everyone does, but that means people like Neil Gaiman and Stephen King are probably using up other people's stories. The bastards. Having said that, and being currently in the middle of editing my first novel, I know for a fact that this isn't the one book that I have inside me. This one, and I'm intending it to be the first of a trilogy, is more just to see if I can do it. Can I keep my short little span of attention focused long enough to actually write something worth reading, or publishing? So far yes, and keeping my one book for down the line I haven't blown my load straight away. Premature authoration sounds like a terrible thing. The knowledge that I have another, better book waiting to be written is good to have.

So I, who have never tried harder than I had to, who fought for years against attempts to get me to do homework, enjoy writing. I know I have teachers out there who would love the irony of that. But to quote one of my favourite authors, 'writing is the most fun anyone can have by themselves.' It is fun. I get to play God! When writing, I can create a world, characters, and elevate or destroy them on a whim. I can revisit events that I never got to experience, and even host my own events. It lets me escape from the world and my life, and helps me see it more clearly sometimes. It's a cheap form of therapy - I'm opposed to paying someone to listen to me run off my issues, cos I already have a pretty good idea of what they are. Writing is an outlet much more satisfying than playing video and computer games. It's as open ended as you want it to be (Robert Jordan. . .), or you can move on without even stopping to pack. If you haven't tried it yet, seriously. Open your word processor now, and just start typing.