Reading is an essential part of what I enjoy: writing. It's not fair to call what I do "a hobby" because I really want to become prolific in fiction or in playwrighting. Although this activity offers little to no financial gains, writing does offer a person such as myself the opportunity to express ideas, dreams, visions, fantasies, and opinions. It is one of the forms of creativity that I enjoy the most. The other is drawing.
    When I was younger, I'd watch my mother write and doodle in an old notepad. I became fascinated with the lines and curves that blanketed the page. My mother, who I learned years later, was discouraged artist. She liked writing and doodling but didn't find an outlet to share her work. My sister and I seemed the only ones interested. She would make stories up about "the symbols" that I call doodles. These stories seemed, to a little tike like me, as great as any comic book Marvel Comics could ever produce. I wanted to make up stories, too. So I began composing what I thought were narratives about people of a far off land. I tried envisioning them in my head then outlined them on paper. Nothing that I saw in my mind's eye ever made it to the page. However, the story of these people began to form. As I grew older so did the characters. Whatever problems I faced, they also faced. I began drawing them in my mind first, then I would describe them. One of my oldest characters, who is now deceased as the story goes, is an alien named Marvus Qabrini, who seemed more human than extraterrestrial. Anyway, many of my characters are interconnected to other characters (similar to links). In etching these beings out of my imagination, I was able to write them into existence even if it is for my own sorted purposes. I can't say that I'll ever publish my Qabrini tales nor will I ever say I won't. The most important thing for me was simply putting the ideas down, which became my hobby.
    My imagination and creativity became paramount in my development. I learned that it was important for me to accept creative inspiration, and let that inspiration fall when it needs to. Writing and reading go hand and hand for me. Improving my reading skills only sharpened my writing skills. Sometimes, poeple forget that each activity connects to the other. I'm certain that one could read well and write poorly. However, it's highly unlike that a person could read poorly but write well.