Wizards vs. Vampires-- I guess this is how it ends...

To me, writing is about passion. It's about taking something you love or hate or yearn for and making others see it the same way you do. And anyone can do it. Just plain old writing isn’t hard at all. It’s just transcribing your thoughts onto a piece of paper. Writing well, on the other hand, that’s the difficult part. This summer I started writing something for me, because I wanted to write it and I figured, hey, why not? It’s worth a shot. And it’s paying off. I love my project. I’m not even close to finishing it, true, but that doesn’t mean I hate working on it. I’m not going to give up on it just because I bit off more than I can chew. I’m not sure if my book (at least what I have so far) is any good, but for once in my life I’m not freaking out about what I’ve set down. Assignments take the joy of writing away from me. Even when I stretch towards that space “out of the box” and try to get a little creative, I feel like I’m too restricted to actually become engrossed in my work. I usually end up looking out of the window from inside my cramped little box, seeing all of these wonderful ideas and chickening out because it’s dark and scary out there. This project was good for me; it made writing feel fun again.

Yes, I think writing is fun—kind of. I’m pretty sure Barbara Kingsolver and I have that in common. We both like to write, at least when we write about what we want to write about. She was passionate about food, and I’m passionate about my favorite little scarhead from England.

I love reading, but the Harry Potter books have always seemed like more than just another series I was into. I flipped open those front covers time and time again and my enthusiasm never wavered. I know what’s going to happen, but I still hold my breath at parts. (Not literally… I’m just trying to get my point across.) When there was a new Harry Potter book coming out I would wait in line at midnight, and as soon as it was in my hands I would crack that sucker open and just drink it all in. I think I’m an addict. But that’s not the point. I want to write about Harry Potter because I love it. I want to write about Twilight because I hate it. I want everyone to see these stories the way I see them. Barbara Kingsolver is passionate about food, and I'm passionate about the little boy from the cupboard. Maybe no one else understands it, but we write about it anyways.

“Read for pleasure. If you like Tolstoy, read Tolstoy; if you like Dostoevsky, read Dostoevsky. Push it a little, but don’t read something totally alien to your nature and then say, “I’ll never be able to write like that.” Of course you won’t. Read books you’d like to write. If you want to write literature, read literature. Write books you’d like to read. Follow your own weirdness.”

--Annie Dillard

From In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction

"Introduction: Notes for Young Readers"