What Makes a Writer?

    I have a really fun announcement to make!
    I am currently being interviewed for a series of "up-and-coming" author interviews put on by Chanel Blake.  If you check out her website, you can see all of the interviews that have already been released.  
    I think it's very interesting to read about these authors and to see not only why people write, but why they write what they write.  She also gets into some finer details about how everyone writes, like which writing software you prefer.  You can learn a lot about individual authors from these interviews, but I also think you can learn a lot about writers in general.  

    What makes a writer?  That question can probably be asked about all artists.  There are some pretty basic things that drive us to our art, we just channel ourselves in different ways.  I write because I have Hypergraphia.  I can't not write.  But I do a lot of other artsy things too.  

    I play the piano and I sing, and sometimes I'll even write music.  I also draw.  I'm definitely not the best at it, but I use it to help my writing.  I'll draw just a little scene from whatever I'm writing, and while I draw I sit with my thoughts. Sometimes drawing is the only way for me to sort through my thoughts and organize my frazzled brain.  I've got pictures of scenes of pretty much every book I've ever thought of.
    This first one is from A Fairy's Tale, the book I wrote in middle school and never finished.  I'm planning to go back and finish it because I think it would be an awesome story.  The main character gets taken hostage in an old cave.  You can see the chain where she was shackled.

    This second one is from Misunderstood.  It's the Castle of the Sun, and you can see Mari climbing out her bedroom window.

    I know they're nothing special, but I'm a writer, not an artist.  It's just my way of channeling my creative energy when I don't know how to write.  Many of my pictures helped me to overcome writer's block.  I'm planning to start one of Rose, and when it's done I'll post it on here to show you.
    In the meantime, I want to turn the question over to you.  What makes a writer (or any artist)?  Answer in the comments!
    ~Alyson