“I Remember The Exact Day I Fell In Love With…”
By Fidel M. Love
“I remember the exact day I fell in love with –“No, not Hip-Hop. Though, I am a fiend for dope beats and fresh rhymes, I’m talking about a different passion of mines. One that still begins with a pen in hand, and is still considered one of the most powerful art forms for self-expression, however, you don’t need a microphone to be heard on this stage; and music is optional. I’m talking about my one true passion – writing. Sanaa Lathan in Brown Sugar, the film that gave us the fore used memorable quote, spoke about how her passion changed her world forever and I can attest that writing has done the same for me.
Besides changing my world, writing opened my eyes to whole new worlds and limitless possibilities. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been creating characters in my head and giving them life on paper. As a kid, I was a day dreamer who could turn my protractor into a flying space craft during a boring math lecture, and couldn’t wait to get home to start drawing a new page in my very own comic book. I had drawn a couple of issues and showed them to a few classmates before I realized that drawing wasn’t my true talent. I was better at coming up with ideas of things to draw and putting stories behind them, than actually drawing – and that was the craft I wanted to explore.
Writing is one big exploration; of our minds, of our imaginations, of ourselves, and of the living, breathing world around us. My writing sessions often begin with brief meditation, because I like to feel what I hope my readers will feel before I start. Listening to music works for some. I just close my eyes, and the picture that forms in my mind, I put into words. Writing through feeling is how I found poetry. If fiction writing is an escape from reality, then I can honestly say that my poetry is a way of confronting reality. It is deeply personal – mythoughts and my emotions – but at the same time, universal. That’s what I love most about writing, and what I take the most pride in as a writer! A good book is like a good song, the way it will form a connection people and make them smile, cry, or just sit back and say, “Wow, that was good!”
As a reader, I love that feeling and as a writer, I love being able to give that feeling to others. I want my writing to evoke an emotion; happiness because you enjoyed the story, anger because you hated a character, sadness because you loved the character and didn’t want it to end that way, and so on. I want readers to feel something! The first time something I wrote brought tears to someone’s eyes, it blew my mind! I was speechless and at the same time, I was inspired. Becoming a great writer takes a lot of skill and practice, but that day was the first time I felt like I had a gift – and I knew that I’d never stop.
