Drug of Choice by Misty Evans

My name is Misty and I’m a writing addict.

Bringing characters to life—and putting them through hell in order to find a happy ending—gives me a high that no drug can. The thrill of writing sends me on a rollercoaster ride. Every scene, every chapter, is a slow, deliberate climb to the top and an exhilarating zoom down to the bottom again. I’m a prolific writer and when people ask me how I turn out stories so fast, I always tell them it’s not the how that’s important, it’s the why. I’m an addict. I need the rush.

I’m not alone with my God/Dr. Frankenstein complex. Several fellow Samhain authors I interviewed for this article, including Marie-Nicole Ryan (Seducing the Sheriff), stated similar reasons for their choice to be a writer. As she puts it, “Writing fills the undeniable urge to create, which is always present in my life. There's much magic involved in creating and completing a new story.”

Vivi Andrews (Serengeti Storm) loves the control writing gives her. “There is something extremely cathartic, emotionally speaking, about having the power to make that happily ever after happen. Good, bad, or ugly, everyone gets what they deserve and I get the intense satisfaction of seeing that justice in words when it can be so elusive in ‘real’ life. If I can control that one area, I can let go of all the things I can't control. It's my own private therapy session for the control-freak within.”

Writing as therapy was a common denominator among the authors I spoke with. “Writing can be boiled down into two major parts for me,” Michelle Miles (Nice Girls Do) says. “One part is Quell The Voices In My Head, and one part is Escapism From The Real World.”

Shiela Stewart (Tempting the Darkness) agrees. “For me, writing has always been both a necessity and a means of escape. I need to get the stories out of my head or it will explode, and escaping into the fantasy world makes me a much saner person.”

In the current economy, escapism is the new black. We’re all in need of a good fantasy. “Writing gives me an escape from the chaos that is my life,” states Kaye Chambers (Blood and Destiny). “When I'm writing, I can be whoever—or whatever—I want to be and not give a hoot about the consequences!”

According to scientific studies, writing has positive health benefits. Because you use your left brain, which is analytical and rational, to put sentences together, your right brain is free to create, intuit and feel. Mental blocks crumble and give you brainpower to better understand yourself, others and the world around you.

Keith Melton (Run Wolf) has found this is true. “Getting out of my head and into another person's, and living their dreams, fears, needs and sorrows, increases my empathy and ability to relate to the rest of humanity. I believe the experience of fiction enhances the connections between us all.”

Whether writing satisfies our need to create, keeps us sane, or helps us relate to others, we are all addicted to telling stories. No drugs or professional therapy necessary. Just another story…

I was going to take a break from writing this week. Do some spring cleaning. Catch up with a few friends over lunch. Paint my bathroom. But all I can think about is the next world, the next character, the next rush. Yep, I need another hit, another story.

Writing is my addiction, and I don’t plan to break the habit any time soon.

Misty Evans is an award-winning, multi-published author of CIA thrillers and paranormal comedy. She likes her good guys bad and her bad guys evil. For free reads, visit www.readMistyEvans.com and come chat with her on Twitter @readmistyevans.