Why Do We Write?

So why do we write?

Is there some driving force in our minds that just snaps on at a specific time in our lives and makes us fall in love with the written word? Why do you write for your particular genre?

I know why I write for the YA and MG genres. Usually, you write what you love to read. I love reading YA books and MG as well. Why? Because there is something different about them, something secretive. Innocent perhaps? Children are more willing to take in the story. Writing about tweens and teenagers and their struggles just feels most comfortable. When we were young these books (YA MG etc) created a whole other world for us to be a part of. I loved reading the Baby Sitters Club, Animal Ark, The Shadow Children Series, Harry Potter, and the Lioness Quartet.

Somewhere, buried beneath these intricate, funny, sad, dangerous, and loving stories was always a lesson. But these were never told in a preachy way. They were underlying themes within the book. You either got them or you didn't, but if you did, it felt as though the novel had opened your eyes just a bit more to the world.

Parents and adults complain about how violent shows, movies, and video games can be and believe children will grow up without regard for most values and human life.

Books teach us values; love, ideals, courage. As children our minds are impressionable, but when we read about characters who we can identify with and learn to understand their struggles, faults and beliefs-we learn.

You ask why I write for the the YA and MG genres. Well, its because books can save children. That's it. Simple as that.