Why I Write

When people ask how I got into writing, I jokingly say that I was always really good at typing and figured I’d put that skill to good use. But in reality, I became a writer thanks to my grandma, a troublemaking cartoon six year old and a purple crocodile.

My grandma worked at The Coop, Harvard’s official bookstore. Every birthday as a kid, instead of giving me intellectually stimulating books from the world’s most prestigious university, I could always count on unwrapping either a Calvin and Hobbes comic book or a collection of children’s poems by Jack Prelutsky.

Growing up, I simply couldn’t understand why anyone would read anything other than Calvin and Hobbes books. Reading about the misadventures of Calvin and his tiger was like getting to eat dessert for every meal (which, quite frankly, would have been perfectly ok with me). It was great writing paired with hilarious pictures. Entertainment in its purest form. I knew then that I wanted entertain people in some way and make people laugh because of something created. I just needed to figure out how.

I found my answer after reading a collection of Jack Prelutsky poetry. The poems were funny and imaginative (my favorite being My Neighbors Dog is Purple) and I loved seeing how he rhymed words and phrases as if they were born to be together.

So now I write. Sometimes the words rhyme and other times they don’t. But they are always meant to entertain, make the reader laugh, and maybe one day inspire someone to say, “I’d like to do that too”.