Tuesday, March 14, 2006

When I Grow Up, I'm Going to Write.....

Kelly asked on her blog what made us decide to be writers. I think for many, it was a question we could rattle off the answer to. Love of books, compulsion, etc. But I'm curious, are you writing what you thought you would write? I write romance. I've never had any urge to write anything else. Never have I wanted to write a masterpiece which would move mountains or win me a Nobel Prize.

When I was in college, I took heat because I wanted to write romance novels. The more lurid, the better. I'll say it, it was the 80's, I wanted to write "bodice rippers." You would think my the reactions I got from my fellow students that I wanted to go out and club baby seals. But it is the only form of fiction I've ever had a desire to write. I'm educated, fairly bright, not particularly profound, I'm a woman who has found her limitations.

Not that I have anything against literary fiction or other genres. I read plenty of other things. I adore Steinbeck. Heck, I like to read Thomas Hardy. But interest in writing has always been limited.

So what about you? Did you dream of creating a novel so profound it would change the world? Did you want to be the next Dashiell Hammett or Harper Lee? Are you happy with what you write?

Other stuff...

I posted at Ainsley Park about keeping the faith as a historical writer when all your told is that the market is too tight.