I was creating stories even before I could write. The first ones I set down in picture form (their subtext not always apparent to those I happily showed them to). After I'd learned the rudiments of spelling, I started adding words to them and began making my own comic books.
I fell in love with reading early on, and was especially drawn to fantasy and science fiction. As a teenager, my tastes expanded to poetry and literature, and it was during that time that I was possessed by the desire to become a writer.
For a long time, I defined success in terms of getting published, but my submissions failed to achieve that goal. Apart from the disappointment that entailed, I found that the whole mindset of submitting my work had a toxic effect on my relationship with what I wrote. A couple of times, this led me to give up writing stories altogether – each time believing it was for good – but sooner or later, the need to write would re-emerge in me, and I'd find myself back at it, as committed as before.
Eventually, I came to accept the fact that writing is just an essential part of who I am. And with it comes the desire to share with other people the works I put so much of myself into. That, if nothing else, I believe, makes me a writer.
My definition of success now is to write stories that, if someone else had written them, I, as a reader, would really like them. The stories I've posted on this website are ones that meet that standard. My hope is that they'll have value for other readers as well.
Here's to all those who love to read, and to all the struggling artists who strive to give the world the best they have to offer!
I fell in love with reading early on, and was especially drawn to fantasy and science fiction. As a teenager, my tastes expanded to poetry and literature, and it was during that time that I was possessed by the desire to become a writer.
For a long time, I defined success in terms of getting published, but my submissions failed to achieve that goal. Apart from the disappointment that entailed, I found that the whole mindset of submitting my work had a toxic effect on my relationship with what I wrote. A couple of times, this led me to give up writing stories altogether – each time believing it was for good – but sooner or later, the need to write would re-emerge in me, and I'd find myself back at it, as committed as before.
Eventually, I came to accept the fact that writing is just an essential part of who I am. And with it comes the desire to share with other people the works I put so much of myself into. That, if nothing else, I believe, makes me a writer.
My definition of success now is to write stories that, if someone else had written them, I, as a reader, would really like them. The stories I've posted on this website are ones that meet that standard. My hope is that they'll have value for other readers as well.
Here's to all those who love to read, and to all the struggling artists who strive to give the world the best they have to offer!
– Brett Roe