My Writer’s Origin Story

I joined the DIY-MFA Book Club this month and the first question/prompt is “How did you become a writer?”

I’ve said that my love of poetry comes from a mix of Mother Goose and Edgar Allan Poe. I remember sitting with my big book of Mother Goose poems and reading “The Lion and the Unicorn.” I knew that there was more to the story than what was told in that poem. Many years later, I learned that it referred to England and Scotland, but at the time, I just knew there was more. There were layers, there were symbols, even though I might not have known that word either. This fascinated me. Rhyme and rhythm and meaning all came together.

When I was eight or nine, my mother had a big Royal typewriter. It was on a table in my room. I remember standing there and typing out something, my first poem, although today I couldn’t tell you if I was more in love with the idea of writing a poem or just looking for an excuse to use that big, beautiful piece of machinery. I’m pretty sure the poem wasn’t very good, but also fairly sure that it is in a notebook somewhere in my basement.

In high school, I discovered “The Raven” and, like so many others, fell in love with it. Memorizing that poem helped me solidify my relationship with writing. It showed me the complexities of emotion on the printed page. While I’ve penned fiction and am working on a non-fiction book, poetry is my first love.