What do you love most about writing?

In the Frequently Asked Questions series, I answer the most common questions I receive from readers and fellow authors. As I write this post, it’s July 2020 and roughly six months into the COVID-19 global pandemic. So, it seems like the perfect time to answer: what do you love most about writing?

Books are Magic

As Stephen King says in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, “books are a uniquely portable magic.” When you’re reading a book, magic happens on almost every level of the experience. An author, writing from a different time and place, brings fictional people and locations to life. The words on the page disappear, as your mind fills with the pictures they paint. Neurons spark in your brain, lighting up the different sections as if you are the one staking the vampire or flying on the broomstick. And when you finally close the book, chapters and hours later, it feels like you’ve woken up from a wonderful dream.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was reading the final novel in Deborah Harkness’s All Souls trilogy, The Book of Life. Harkness had woven all that magic for me, transporting me to a world full of creatures, magical texts, and forbidden romance. I could have finished the book in a couple days. Instead, I dragged out reading it for weeks. I didn’t want to leave the fantasy, especially when reality was looking more and more like a dystopian novel.

From a reader’s perspective, I treasure that opportunity to live in someone else’s imagination and escape my world for a while. But it’s an even more amazing feeling to be the author.

Writing is Witchcraft

Writing is the closest I can get to witchcraft. (Complete with feline familiars, as you can see here.) When I write, I weave words into spells. Like King and Harkness and countless others before me, these spells breathe life into characters, creatures, and places. Then, when the story’s done, I get to invite people who share my passions – that’s you! – into my world.

You can love or fight or laugh with my imaginary friends. You can explore a Salem, Massachusetts, harrowed by a real witch (coming soon) or a steampunk wasteland terrorized by a lecherous king (the Desertera series). You can leave behind your stressful job or the damn pandemic or whatever else sucks right now and hunt monsters or commit treason – all because I put words down on the page for you.

Don’t get me wrong. I do write for me. Writing provides me with escape, helps me sort through problems, and gives me a platform for expressing my values (see the not-so-subtle climate change concerns in Desertera). But I don’t think writing would be nearly as fun without readers. And I know it wouldn’t be as meaningful.

Both Bring Solace

A few years ago, a reader shared a photo of The Courtesan’s Avenger (Desertera #2) on Instagram. That felt great to see. But when I read her caption and learned that reading my novel had provided a much-needed escape while she battled depression, all I could think was, “That’s it. That’s why I write.”

I, too, have turned to books for solace. During COVID-19, it was the All Souls trilogy. When I was fifteen and had a broken wrist, it was the Harry Potter series. When I was in middle school and my first dog died, it was The Goblin Wood by Hilari Bell.

Books are the ray of hope in dark times. And these are some of the darkest we’ve seen. As an author, I have the power to shine a light for myself and for others. To help us all find each other and lift each other back into the sun.

That’s why I read. And that’s what I love most about writing.

What do you love most about books, reading, or writing? Share the books and authors that have meant the most to you in the comments.

If you want more glimpses behind the curtain of my writing process, to learn about my fantasy novels, and/or to get a FREE paranormal fantasy short story, sign up for my Kate’s Coven email list.