Blog Hoppin': Why I Write

A few weeks ago, my good friend Laurie Luh over at Mimosa Lotus contacted me to see if I'd like to take part in a blog hop. I didn't really know what a blog hop was, but I told her as long as it didn't involve dancing, I was in. As part of it, I was supposed to answer questions about my writing—which is kind of a funny exercise for me because although I write this blog, this blog, occasionally contribute to this one, and churn out buckets of marketing copy for my day job, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about my writing methodology.

Writing has just always been something I've done.

I decided I wanted to be a writer when I was about 9 or 10, and immediately penned my first paperback in a 5x7 notebook. It was called Chester the Cat and I'm fairly certain my mom thought she was raising the next Danielle Steel. In high school, I was a staff writer for the yearbook and when I became co-editor-in-chief my senior year, I decided I wanted to purse a career in advertising. I majored in Communications and Advertising, snagged an agency job two weeks after graduation, and have spent the last 15 years using words to try persuade people to buy things.

Day job aside, writing is something that feels like a necessity to me. It's like breathing. Or maybe burping. I don't know. Something so natural, I can't imagine not doing it. To me, there's always a story to be told. It doesn't have to be done by way of the great American novel (although I do have a chick lit manuscript collecting dust in the closet). Stories happen in birthday card messages, blog posts, emails to friends, 140-character tweets. Stories are everywhere and I live to tell them. Even when I know no one may ever read them, I still feel compelled to write them.

So that's my back story. And here are my answers to the official blog hop questions...

1. What am I working on/writing?
When I'm not writing email campaigns for clients like Dropbox and Google, I'm trying to keep up with blogging. I love to blog. It's so immediate and it makes my day when I know I can entertain a reader or two with a funny tale. I also write Love Letters for a list of lucky subscribers (it's free—you should sign up). And I continually come up with ideas for books I want to write. Snippets and ramblings for those are always in the works over here.

2. How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre?
I'm not sure mine fits into one particular genre. Maybe that's what makes it different. I have no idea... Sometimes I'm writing DIY instructions. Sometimes I'm simply relaying funny stories. Sometimes I'm pouring my heart out. I would like to think that if anything makes my writing memorable, it's sincerity. 

3. Why do I write what I do?
I write what I do because I can't stop. I come from a big family of storytellers. There's nothing we love more than being able to recount some amusing tale to each other (usually over dinner and adult beverages). Writing lets me do this—but with the power to perfect the story even more on the page. I can noodle sentences and rearrange things until I feel I'm saying them just right. On this blog, I usually write because I'm trying to keep family and friends up on my adventures with Mr. W. And I usually want to try to make people laugh in the process. Over at The Path to Wonderful, I write because I want to empower readers. If I can help them feel understood or less alone or point them in a direction that might assist them in hopping over a life hurdle, I'm elated.

4. How does my writing process work?
Steven Pressfield has a great quote about putting your ass where your heart is. That is a method I wish I could master. Usually my process involves getting up a thousand times and distracting myself with dishes or laundry or the cat. I get my best ideas when I'm gardening or doing things totally unrelated to writing—and then when it comes time to put them into words, I fight it like nobody's business. A lot of times (like right now) my process involves sitting at the dining room table pounding on the keyboard when I should really be in bed.  

So, enough about me.

Meet some of my other favorite writer/blogger friends:

Laurie Luh is a career counselor, HR consultant and the co-founder of Mimosa Lotus, a lifestyle website that inspires personal growth by providing tools to live a happier, more fulfilled life. Laurie was the head of Human Resources at Participant Media since the company's inception in 2004, and left in 2013 when she realized that it was time for her to jump into the next phase of her career life. Now Laurie writes about the practicalities of "jumping" and dispenses overall career advice for Mimosa Lotus and greenlightjobs. She will also be a featured blogger on a new online career center that's still in development. Laurie has been a guest lecturer at USC and has spoken on several panels. Outside of writing and career counseling, Laurie lives by the beach in Los Angeles and is an active runner and hiker hoping to add surfing to her list of activities very soon. She's easy to find over at Mimosa Lotus, or you can follow her on Twitter, where she's often tweeting photos of favorite SoCal hotspots.

Mandy Fishburn writes for Lowe Campbell Ewald, an advertising agency in Detroit. Before she became a copywriter, she taught high school English and creative writing at an independent school in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. She holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan and she is currently working on a Masters in Education as a Reading and Writing Specialist. Her blog www.mandyfish.com has been nominated as one of the BlogHer Voices of the Year in the Humor category.





Suzy is a stay at home mom living in New Jersey with her husband and 2.5 year old daughter. She has her Master's degree in Nutrition and taught nutrition, health, and diabetes classes for over ten years before becoming a full-time mom. Her passion for nutrition is now channeled in her blog www.suzyhomemaker.net. She focuses on teaching others about real food and real ingredients, and hopes to inspire others to eat less processed food and cook more from scratch. You can find her at Google+ and on Pinterest.

Nilsa is the founder and writer for SoMi Speaks, a blog about urban life in Chicago with her husband (Sweets), their son (Gavin) and dog (SoMi). In addition to writing for her blog, she juggles a full-time job and full-on social calendar. She started blogging in March 2007 as a creative outlet for writing, but has been astounded by the discovery that she also belongs to a pretty amazing community of bloggers and reformed bloggers. Her hope is that readers will go to SoMi Speaks with an open mind, respect fellow readers and have fun while visiting her little corner of the internet!