This Is Why I Write

Ask ten authors why they write and you’ll probably get ten answers, and likely they’ll be ten very long answers.

• Some authors say it’s in their blood, that they wanted to write since they could hold a pen.
  • I was too busy playing and getting into trouble as a youngster. The only writing I did was to forge my parents’ signature so we could get cigarettes from the local store.
• Other authors say they were inspired by a wonderful teacher.
  • I had a lot of great teachers, but none of them inspired me so much that I raced for a pen to jot down my thoughts.
• A few authors have mentioned being driven to put their thoughts to paper in order to share it with the world.
  • Never crossed my mind.

What Changed?

I can tell you I had absolutely no desire to write as a youngster. Not through all my years in school, though that didn’t amount to many. And I never got inspired though the early years of marriage; I was too busy supporting my family to think about writing. Then I was too busy raising kids.

I never thought about writing until my youngest son was forced to read Moby Dick in eighth grade. He was complaining about it so I said to him, “Let’s read it together.”

After getting bored to tears, I thought I’d better do something before he lost his interest in reading. We started reading fantasy books, and that’s when he lit up. Something in those books sunk a hook deep into his soul. They excited him. Made his eyes shine.

We began tearing those books apart, analyzing them chapter by chapter. What made the good ones so good? And what made us want to put down the others? Soon afterward, we decided to try writing ourselves. We plotted out an epic fantasy series, developed characters and worked through a multitude of sub-plots.

And then girls came along and fantasy books couldn’t hold my son’s interest. I put down the pen, too.

New Inspiration

When my oldest son and his wife blessed us with two grandsons, my wife and I spent many hours reading them books and telling them stories. She did most of the reading and I did most of the storytelling. Years later they pestered me to write some of the stories I used to tell them. Even though they weren’t stories I could make into a book, they encouraged me to write. A few years ago I started writing mysteries.

But Why Do I Write?

If you had asked me two years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to answer. If you had asked me six months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to either. But every weekend my youngest son brings his daughter, Adalina, up to spend a few days with my us—a treasure beyond dreams—and every weekend, my wife does what she does best—reading to a little one. When my wife reads, she pours her soul into it and the kids know. She could make a recipe exciting.

To Get Back To The Question

• I don’t write for money. If I did, I’d write erotica.
• I don’t write to send a message or make a statement.
• I don’t write because I’m one of those authors who has to write.
• I don’t write because I have words inside me that have to come out.

I want you to look at this picture of my wife reading to Adalina!

Adalina & Mikki reading

That is why I write.

In the hopes that someday, someone, somewhere, might get as excited about one of my books as Adalina does about hers.

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of:
No Mistakes Resumes
Murder Takes Time
Murder Has Consequences
A Bullet For Carlos
Finding Family
He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

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Filed under: Family, Life Lessons, Storytelling, Writing by Giacomo