Why I Write by Chloe L Blyth

Today I am thrilled to introduce author Chloe L Blyth to the blog. Chloe is an established author who has offered to try to inspire others by explaining why she writes.

Hi Val, thank you so much for the invitation to share my thoughts on your blog. The topic I’ve chosen to write about today is “why I write,” so let’s dive straight in.

To understand why I write, we must first consider why we read (not just me, all of us). There are many reasons we might read: for entertainment, escapism, to educate ourselves, sometimes even to bring on an emotional response, for example, if we really need a good cry. I can personally think of three books off the top of my head that I would go to if I just wanted to cry and wallow for a while, 1. P.S. I love you by Cecelia Ahern; 2. A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron; 3. Always. Forever by PS. Black.

My books are not meant to make you cry. My books are the ones you reach for when you want entertainment, humour, surprise twists and most of all, an escape from reality. My debut novel, Duplicity, and its corresponding trilogy, The Dangers of Dreaming, is the perfect example of that. What you have is light fantasy, a mix of realism and otherness. A disastrous love life combined with Dream-Walkers, action, adventure, danger and twists that make you run from one book to the next. It leads you in slowly and then takes you off full throttle into a new world so that you cannot possibly think about what was going on in your real life before you picked up the book, unless to wonder “what if you weren’t the only one watching your dreams?”

So why do I write books that make you forget your reality? Because that is why I read! To lose myself in a book is one of my greatest delights, it soothes my soul. But I suppose I must be clear, I am not being selfless when I write these books, providing my readers with the escapes they crave. The writing process itself is therapeutic to me, too.

Growing up as an avid reader, forever maxing out my library card and taking more books than clothes on holiday, it was only natural that I would want to create my own stories. But it’s more than that. We’ve all had low points in our lives where things haven’t gone the way we wanted and have felt out of our control. Perhaps we have been open about that, but many of us haven’t. Many of us choose to put on a brave face, we consider our problems less important than those of others. Perhaps we believe that if we put on a good façade then eventually it will come true: we will be happy. Everything will be okay in the end. (If it’s not okay, it’s not the end).

My personal technique, healthy or not, is to write. I’m very bad at opening up to people, but to my notebook or my laptop, the words pour out of me. That’s not to say I have a diary filled with depressive musings, oh no. I take a more creative path. You’ve all seen the merch out there with sayings along the lines of “don’t disturb the writer, she’ll put you in a book, and kill you,” - that’s more my style. It may not end up in an actual book (usually not), but it helps me to fictionalise things a bit, to take my revenge or even just comprehend what has happened in a way that suits me.

Ultimately, the reason why I write is because I need to. It’s not a choice. When I wasn’t brave enough to put my books out there, I was still writing things down, playing around with poetry and prose, getting lines stuck in my head that just felt right. My current WIP is a great example of that, starting with the sentence: If actions speak louder than words, then you’re screaming, and I’m deaf. These are words that I wrote privately but couldn’t let go. They needed expanding, they needed a book, and they’re getting one. A Soul So Fierce and Furry is due out in Autumn this year.

Thank you for reading. If you’re interested in finding out more about me or my books, please follow the links in my Linktree here. Thanks for having me, Val!

 The Author

Chloë is a self-published author of six books who lives in the south of England with her gorgeous tuxedo cat. When she isn’t reading, writing or attending bookish events, she can be found wandering around the countryside or stretching on her yoga mat. Or at her day-job, but you don’t want to know about that!