The Top 11 Reasons I Love Telling Stories

By Kimberly Jayne

1. I get
   to make up stories about people in quirky situations and conversations that
   make me laugh. And, like Elizabeth Bennett, “I dearly love to laugh.”
2. I get
   to say things through my characters about people’s wrongdoings that I wish I
   had the presence and quickness of mind to say in real life at the very moment
   the wrongdoing occurs.
3. I get
   to immerse myself in new adventures and misadventures I might never get the
   chance to in real life. Who doesn’t getting themselves into hot water from time
   to time? We can’t always be good girls, can we? Especially when we can so
   easily control the outcome.
4. I can
   go anywhere. The world is my jalapeno popper. With a little research, some
   great camera shots, or a practiced imagination, I can hop a trundling train to
   Hungary during World War I or sail the stormy South Pacific with a swashbuckler
   on a pirate ship. All I need is a story in which to fit my sojourns, and I’m on
   vacation.
5. I get
   to form tight bonds of friendships and relationships, and out of that sometimes
   I even get to fantasize sex scenes. Of course, it’s much more clinical when
   you’re writing it—the right arm goes here, the left leg goes there… But the end
   result is fun.
6. I get
   the chance to work out life’s little complexities, uncovering the right words
   with the right nuances that give me those revealing “ah-has!” And for
   some time afterward, I’m happy to tell everyone that I’m quite the smarty-pants.
7. I get
   to figure out what motivates people to behave in ways others might not
   understand, and then dole out the reasons bit by bit through my characters’ actions,
   personalities, and deep, dark, haunting secrets.
8. I get
   to fool people into thinking the story is going one direction and surprise
   them when I lead them through a door they weren’t expecting. BOO!
9. I get
   to experience every range of my characters’ emotions, from titillation to pain,
   joy to sorrow, excitement to dread. Not surprisingly, I always loved the
   teeter-totter when I was a kid.
10. I get to be immersed in a new romance: first
    flirts, first dates, first kisses, and first sex. It’s actually my job to kiss
    and tell.
11. I am in charge. Whether my characters live or die
    is entirely dependent on me. From a character’s appearance to his words and
    actions, I am the unequivocal Queen of the Universe. This is why you always want to be kind to a writer. You never know when you will end up in her story, dead.