How has writing affected your life?

[Jade Harley]

I'm always trying to make connections between what's going on around me and the written word. Whenever I hear a funny joke or something fascinating from another person's personal experience, I immediately want to try and replicate it in a different, original way and include it in a story. I flip through those filmy beauty magazines to find all the creative names for different colors that they've come up with, like "sea breeze blue" and "stardust silver" nail polish or mascara. Writing pushes me to gain an interest in things I otherwise wouldn't, because each new experience gives me something new to write about.

Most of all, though, writing makes me sad. I feel like there's never enough time to really enjoy it, like I can't find the right words to express what I'm feeling, what I want my characters to feel. The Omniverse, on the other hand, and the writing I do here, makes me happy. There's no pressure unless I put it there, and I often do lay it on, because I want to improve. I want more than anything to write a good story, but it's not just that. I want to share something I've created with the people I admire, and maybe they'll think privately that it's no good at all, that my voice is weak, that my choice of character was bad and my writing style deviates too much from the main story or whatever, but at least they'll see it. That's really all I can ask for.