Todd Cheney – Why Writing?

Why Writing?

Todd Cheney

September 22, 2013

What is it that attracted me to writing in the first place? There have been numerous times in my life when I sit back and ask myself that question. With so many other occupations out there and such a wide range of life experiences to have, I chose to write some books.

I’ll be honest with you, as of today, I haven’t written a novel in seven years. I wrote the books that I’m currently promoting as one—The Seventh Circle Books 1-4—in my early twenties and I’m now in my mid thirties. I’m still not entirely sure why I started to write. I just felt this urge one day, sitting in my apartment where I used to live back then, to start writing fantasy books. I’d been absorbing these types of books, Fantasy and Science Fiction, since I could read. Maybe it seemed like the natural step to me or I just thought I would be immediately successful at it. I’m not sure now.

Thinking back, and looking at how much of this work I did, writing about 1,200 words per day at the least for several months at a time while I was in process, I know I must have been entirely sure that I was doing the right thing, or else I would have given up in the middle. It’s just that I wanted to finish, because I had this idea that I would be transformed into someone else, a better person or maybe a more successful person. And possibly, that has happened. Trust me, there are many worse places I could be in in my life right now and I am grateful for everything that I have. In some small way, believing in myself, that I could do something, accomplish something in my life, has led me to just that. And what started to dig me out of that hole, looking back, was writing.

So, in that regard, I can call myself a success. And while there are detractors that you will get in any walk of life, I believe in this still. Otherwise, I would not be writing this post.

Writing can change you. I’m living proof.