Writing is Life
Growing up, all you ever hear besides don’t do this and don’t do that, is “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Some boys say they want to be an astronaut and some girls say “I want to be a princess.” Nobody truly knows what they want to be until it is time to be a grown up. If you do know what you want and strive and drive towards it most of your life, you are my hero. When I was younger, there were only two things on my radar; I either wanted to be a singer (my biggest dream) or a mechanic. Two different sides of the spectrum, but at the same time, that has always been me.
I was one of those teenagers who had so much to say, but could never find my voice. Verbally speaking only worked for me when I was fighting or arguing with someone or many people at once, it was quite fun. When it came to how I felt, or when someone I cared about had done something wrong or hurtful, I would write, whether it be a poem called “Stupid Shit” or a letter to the person who had hurt me. All the way until I was in my twenties, my biggest dream was always to be a singer, and I already knew at that point, being a mechanic was out of the question, simply because I had never followed through with it.
When I was 29 years old and going through a really rough patch in my life, with losing my job, having lost my main source of income because of my hands (carpal tunnel release surgery is a bitch), and I was lost, it dawned on me what I was meant to do. One of my best-friends was spending the weekend at my house and had started writing something about her life. She’s not a writer, but a dabbler in many different things, and it gave me an idea; I wanted to write about my life. I started to write about some different things that had happened and I realized I had started this, three or four various times before. It was then something clicked in my brain and I realized my true passion in life is writing. I always thought being a singer, I could go on to take care of my entire family (which is huge as I am the oldest of 7 children), but I loved singing, and I thought singing was what I was meant to do. When it dawned on me writing was what my purpose, my life was meant for, it didn’t matter about the money or fame or anything like that, it was all about writing.
In April of 2014, I had no idea what was in store for me, no clue as to what would come of my epiphany if you will, I just knew writing was what I wanted to do, what I needed to do. I started writing a story that has come to a halt, (eh, it happens, right?) and then I started another project in November of 2015 after I had joined this awesome group on Facebook called Fiction Writing. I wrote over 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo in 2015, and I felt, even though I hadn’t completed the manuscript, like I had accomplished something huge in my life. I still have yet to finish that story, and I’m not sure I ever will, but it was a start. In Fiction Writing I met a few people that truly stuck in my head and in my heart and in the beginning of 2016, a smaller group formed called The Scribes’ Circle. The people in that group truly are amazing and I don’t know what I would do without their constant support, whether it be for writing or just everyday life situations that arise, they are my rock in most instances.
This year, with the help of so many in The Scribes’ Circle, I became a published author for the first time under my pseudonym Monroe Page. I was ecstatic and it felt surreal, especially when I held a copy of our anthology Unbound in my hands. Eventually, someday I will be published under my own name, but for now I am Monroe Page, author and fictional person. Monroe Page is not who I am, but a part of me, because I will always be Kristen Leah Evans, writer, and hopefully one day, author.
My point in all of this, don’t set your mind on one thing growing up, while there are so many other options out there in the world. You can do like I did and pass up your true passion without even knowing it. Sit back, look around, quiet your mind for a minute and think about what truly makes you happy. Live to be happy, not to survive.
K.L.E.