This Might Be Why

Here is something I posted to a conversation on the National Novel Writing Month forums about wanting to be a writer as a child, and NaNo rekindling that dream. I thought you guys might like to hear a little about why I like this crazy writing adventure so much.
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I know what you mean about putting a comma in place because it "sounds right." I am right there with you. However, I think I've had the opposite problem of yours all these years. I used to want to be an astronaut. I mean, I really wanted to be an astronaut. Once, I even put on my toy racing helmet, winter coat, snow pants, gloves, and boots in the middle of summer and went outside to walk around in my "spacesuit." But, alas, my career path has not led me anywhere near Cape Canaveral (unless you count my visit to the Kennedy Space Center ten years ago).

Instead, what I figured out is that I love reading about astronauts. That evolved into a love of science fiction in general, and then to creating LEGO spaceship models that I put on my website with back stories and character bios. This started a slow-burning fuse in my mind. I found out that I could use the LEGO models to illustrate email RPG games I played over the internet with other model builders. Then I realized that my games were, in reality, stories being told in a tag-team fashion with the other person. I tinkered with story ideas and even made a middling effort at one bigger story that I started my senior year of high school.

It was really NaNo which got me to plow ahead with an attempt at writing a complete story. I won my first NaNo in 2008 and haven't looked back. I am a writer, and I couldn't say with more certainty that no matter where I go in life this identity will stick with me. And it's all thanks to Chris Baty and his crazy idea.