I still have the diary my mother purchased for me at seven years old. I was so excited to write my thoughts in it. Each page averaged about three sentences; however, on the days that something really serious happened (i.e., my crush paid attention to me), I wrote several pages detailing the event.  When I was ten years old, every day my English teacher gave the class a writing prompt and required us to write in our journals for fifteen minutes. Although I enjoyed writing, I was intimidated by the time limit.  I worried that after fifteen minutes I would have a blank page. Now I realize that the teacher was not only ensuring that we use proper grammar and punctuation; she was developing our consistency.

When I was in the eighth grade, I won an award for an essay I had written about my maternal grandmother. In the essay, I talked about how she did not let being illiterate hinder her from obtaining leadership positions at church and at the residents’ association at her senior citizens’ home. After I won the award, my mother was convinced that one day I would write a book.

After my grandmother passed away in 2005, my mother and I would often reflect on my grandmother’s sayings. She would often say “I Didn’t Part My Lips” while talking on the phone with her church friends. My mother said this saying would be a great title for a book. I agreed, but didn’t make an effort to learn how to write a book. It wasn’t until 2017after I read a book  entitled “Choose Yourself” by James Altucher that I was ready to write my first book. In the book, he talked about how he became a self-published author, why everyone can have a virtual mentor, and the habits he implemented to help overcome obstacles. I obtained a virtual writing mentor who guided me to self-publish my first book in 2019 I Didn’t Part My Lips: Survival Strategies for Introverts Living in an Extroverted World.

Looking back, I believe that emotional events have influenced me to write.