Since I've been meeting more people through the writing groups I've been involved with, I've heard many people talk about their story and putting it into a book. Memoir is very popular these days with many people telling their stories, including myself. But beyond that one book, why do people write? I read a collection of authors talking about why they write about themselves. Each had their own story with many of them sharing the same reasons. The majority said they wrote because they had to and they didn't know how to do anything else.
My story is a little different - I am a self-taught fine artist so I do know how to do something else. But I have been a bibliophile since I was a child and it has followed me into adulthood since I can now buy my own books. Back then I could only take out books from the library; we didn't own many books. There is no limit to the number of books I can own now. Unbeknownst to many, except maybe Jim, my husband, I also collect notebooks with every intention of writing something special in them (especially the ones that have fancy hard covers - I just haven't figure out the perfect topic to write about that is worthy of these beautiful journals).
I also majored in English in college and that decision was based solely on the fact that I loved books and loved to read. Silly, I know, because I really didn't think about 'career' at that time in my life. But smart, I did think about what I love. Books and writing were at the top of my list.
So, books, notebooks, and oh yea, pens - like books, I believe there is no such thing as having too many pens. My favorites are the fountain pens: I have a Kaweco, a Waterman, and a Cross. And then a variety of my favorite pens that are not fountain pens, the gels. I have everything I need to be a writer. This isn't just a job, this is who I am. I write because I am. A writer.