Guest Blog – Why I Write

When Kevin was born, NASA put a man on the moon to celebrate. Hoping to cash in on his highly validated fame, I decided to beg him desperately ask him nicely to write a post for me. This may be my nefarious way to steal Trigger, his gorgeous dog, from him but he must never know. Okay? 

Without further ado, I present to you, New Author Online

I would like to begin by thanking A for the opportunity to write this guest post. Thank you A!

Perhaps all authors are a little insane. If insanity consists of hearing voices in your head then I plead guilty. One of my earliest recollections concerns people holding conversations in my head. As a small child these concerned adventures in which I was a key participant, usually a hero. I was the secret agent who against all odds saved his country from dark forces or, as I entered my teenage years the lover who held romantic conversations with a beautiful girl as we walked along the beach, barefoot the waves lapping at our feet.

As an adult I still hear voices in my head, people knocking struggling to escape and be brought to life on paper. Writing enables me to scratch an itch, to find relief by enabling the people living in my imagination to find life on the printed page. Many of my imaginings concern people faced with extreme situations.

Writing Cartoon
How I imagine Kevin’s warm up exercise looks like before he starts putting words on the screen

In my story, The First Time we meet Becky, a young graduate with a first class degree in English Literature. Faced with mounting debts and her inability to pay her creditors, Becky turns in desperation to the world’s oldest profession, she becomes an escort. I heard the conversation Becky held with her first client. I felt the revulsion Becky endured at having sex with a man to whom she was not attracted in return for money. I was compelled to write The First Time, to allow Becky and her fellow escort and friend, Julie to speak to my readers.

On finishing a story I feel a sense of bereavement. People who have occupied my thoughts are now out there in the big bad world and are no longer under my protection. They must sink or swim by themselves. Sometimes I am surprised by my reaction to my own writing. In my story Samantha one of the leading protagonists is killed. He is a thoroughly nasty piece of work and richly deserves his fate. He is, none the less my creation and killing him off left me feeling rather like a man who has murdered an old friend. I was, in effect destroying a small part of myself.

Turning to the mechanics of writing, as a blind person who is unable to read print I use screen reading software called JAWS which converts text into speech and Braille allowing me to use a standard Windows computer. In addition my iPad has in-built screen reading software (voice-over) which is great for accessing information on the move.

Summing up, as an author I suffer from a terrible itch, the need to write. I must scratch, scratch and scratch again and again!

Thank you Kevin. As always, I find your stories as captivating as ever. I hope this post has sent the rest of you spiralling into deep philosophical thoughts about why you write as well. I know I’m going to be lost in thought for the next few hours. Why do you write? Where do you draw your inspiration from? Are you insane?

28 Comments Add yours

  1. ShethP says:

    “Am I insane?” A terribly nice question. 😛

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    1. cupitonians says:

      It definitely caught my attention!

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  2. Many thanks A for hosting me and for the humorous introduction. I must go now as I sense the men in white coats coming to cart me off to the lunatic asylum …!

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    1. cupitonians says:

      ET will rescue you. Don’t fret!

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      1. OK, I will hide in the wardrobe until he arrives …

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  3. eriklehman says:

    This one hits me right in the heart. Great post.

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    1. I am glad you enjoyed my post and thanks to Cupitonians once more for hosting me. Kind regards, Kevin

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    2. cupitonians says:

      Kevin is amazing! 🙂

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  4. Adam Hughes says:

    You are a great writer 🙂 I thoroughly enjoyed reading that. And yes,I think all of us writers are a tad mad.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post. After Cupitonians mention of kidnapping my guide dog Trigger I have him under lock and key, ha, ha!

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  5. Aquileana says:

    Great ode to the act of writing… I enjoyed the way you play with words here.
    Keep it up 😉

    Cheers, Aquileana !!!

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    1. I am delighted that you enjoyed reading my guest post on Cupitonians. Very best wishes, Kevin

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    2. cupitonians says:

      Thanks Aquileana. I like Kevin’s great way with words too!

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  6. Wonderful blog. What a delight! Hugs, Barbara

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    1. cupitonians says:

      Thank you so much Barbara!

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  7. WillieSun says:

    Great post, and thank you for explain why you write, Kevin.

    I think I write because words build up inside me and if I don’t let them out at some point, I would explode. They just spill over sometimes.

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    1. Yes I can relate to what you say, that you would explode if you didn’t let the words out.

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    2. cupitonians says:

      I’m glad words love you just as much as you love them!

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      1. WillieSun says:

        Aww, stop it, you’re making me blush.

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  8. Welcome back! I was worried that your labyrinth had morphed into a 6 dimensional space-time continuum. 😉
    Thanks for introducing Kevin. He’s an inspiration.
    And, yes, insanity is the only possible answer – I mean, what on earth would prompt a sane person to put themselves through this torture.

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    1. I’m looking forward to Cupitonian’s next post. Thanks for your kind words about me and for following me at newauthoronline. Best, Kevin

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    2. cupitonians says:

      Haha, I think you spoke to soon as I did get swallowed up somewhere. I’m slowly being spit out though. You’ll notice when I go on a like and comment spree. Hope you are well!

      Like

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