(This was written several months ago)

Today my father told me I shouldn't write at night anymore.

That, unless it was a journal, I should stop writing; because all the stories I write I alone see.

This broke my heart.

I rarely say this, but, my dad is wrong.

Yes, I write at night.

Why?

It's simple.

The mind comes alive at night. in the darkness my mind begins to turn faster, see things clearer.

Ideas are whispered from my soul and I am able to convey that onto the blank page.

During the day, when there are dozens of things that are to be done, the ideas are too muddled to see clearly.

At night, when the work is put away for the day, the ideas come alive.

I notice things in the dark that people who do not write cannot see.

In the late hours I am able to find my world.

So many writers find their inspiration at night.

I'm sure wonderland wasn't created during breakfast.

Nor was middle earth assembled during afternoon tea.

No.

These classics were thought of in the darkness...in the moments before sleep took their creators for the night.

My dad is also wrong about my stories.

Yes, they are childish, and silly, and written amateurishly.

Yes, only a select few have read my book; the source of my hopes and dreams.

But you know what?

Someday my stories will be read by millions.

I love to write.

I long for it.

It is my comfort.

Writing has gotten me through times that only God and writing has gotten me through.

Writing is an escape.

It is a passage to be able to create a world that is entirely your own.

In your world, your own world, everything you long for is granted.

The wished that you longed for in this life are granted without a second thought.

You can be a king, an inventor, a hero.

You can be praised, worshiped, loved.

Writing is something I will never stop doing.

No matter how discouraged I get. no matter how hard it is to figure out the next step in the puzzle.

Because it really is a puzzle, a mace, you have to put exactly the right words together.

When the right words are put together it is magic.

Would endings be as satisfying if the last words were: "and they continued living, the end?"

No!

"And they lived happily ever after" is much more satisfying.

But how long is happily ever after?

The new generation of writers will answer that question, while raising more questions.

And each new generation will answer and raise and continue to intrigue and enchant.

And I want to be a part of it.

So I will continue to write.

No matter the risk.