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Sitting in the van as the family drives from Wyoming to North Carolina gives a young a girl a LOT of time to pass.  When I was really little, before the time of laptops and iPads I would read, play car games or stare outside. As I grew older and technology changed I began to write to pass the time. I spent a plethora of happy hours creating stories on the family laptop. One of the joys of my childhood was having a car charger for the laptop so I could type as long as I was in the car.

As I’ve become an adult I’ve become even more in loving with writing. I find it a joy to put words on a page and craft a story, and crafting it is. Creating a story (be it fiction or non-fiction) that will appeal to an audience is not an easy task. Each writer will go about this task just a little bit differently. Some authors create storyboards, some authors use an outline, and some authors just sit and type and see what emerges and once a general concept is on the page, a more delicate approach can be taken to get from point A to point C.

I think that I am somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. I love to free write and just see what emerges, but I do a controlled free write. I start with a basic storyline and the message that I want my readers to grasp at the end. I do a lot of research in the beginning so as I write the details are true to life, but as I’m writing I will do more research and talk to professionals.

Many authors will tell you to write about what you know. If you are a gardener, make your main character a gardener. If you are a pastor’s wife, write about that, if you are a pediatrician write about pediatrics. There is a lot of wisdom in that advice, but I not only write for my audience, I write for myself.

I write to stretch myself, to learn about a new subject, to experience something that I will never actually experience.  I write because I love escape into another world and tell a story. I write because I get incredible joy out of it. I write for the same reason that an artist paints or a singer sings. I write because it is fun, challenging, lets me be creative, passes the time and gives me something to share with others. I love to write stories for my husband and daughter. I write because I can’t imagine not writing. I write because I’m happy, I write because I’m free!

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I’m Jessie Lee the author of {the soon to be released} Joyfully After All: My Journey from Rape Victim to God’s Princess. I grew up in the wild west of Wyoming and now I live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with my handsome husband and our adorable 8 month old daughter.  I spend my days playing with our daughter, taking care of the house, volunteering with a variety of church events/groups and writing. You can find me on Facebook under: Joyfully After All or on my blog: www.victoryoverrape.blogspot.com