Why I Write

Deborah Ann Martin
May 15, 2025
4 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Author Deborah Ann Martin at book signing table surrounded by children's books and a sign promoting writing classes for children's stories. — From Author to Mentor — Sharing Stories and Inspiring New Voices

Writing Has Always Been Part of Me

Writing has always been part of who I am.

Since I was a little girl, I wrote poetry. It was how I made sense of life—its beauty, its chaos, and everything in between. What began as something quiet and personal slowly became my stress relief, my creative outlet, and, at times, my lifeline when life felt too heavy to carry on my own.

When I went through my divorce, I started writing about what I was feeling and what I was living through. I truly felt God wanted me to put it into a book. I journaled honestly—about the pain, the healing, the self-discovery, and the slow process of moving forward. Writing became the place where I could say the things I didn’t yet know how to speak out loud.

For a long time, all of my poems and writing were just for me. No one asked to read them. No one seemed interested. I wrote to heal, to process what I couldn’t say directly. My adult children would sometimes tell me I was passive-aggressive, not because I wanted to be, but because it was hard to express what I truly needed. I didn’t want to upset anyone. I didn’t want to make people angry. So instead, I wrote.

Words can destroy, and words can heal. But when words stay hidden, they can’t do either.

In 2020, I was diagnosed with cancer, and that moment changed everything. I began putting my poetry into books, not because I wanted recognition, but because I didn’t want what I had learned to be lost. I wanted my grandchildren, my family, and even strangers to know the lessons life had taught me through some of its hardest seasons.

This is the heart behind my writing and the stories shared at Surviving Life Lessons. Much of this work lives within ongoing reflections and themes you’ll find throughout the Blog Series Catalog—stories rooted in healing, resilience, faith, and the quiet power of putting words to lived experience.

Why I Started This Blog & Website

You don’t get to take material things with you when you leave this world, but you do take the wisdom, love, and truth you gathered along the way. And if we’re lucky, we get to leave that wisdom behind for others.

That’s what this blog is all about.

This website is here to share what I’ve learned, and more importantly, to invite others to do the same. Because when I was struggling—really struggling—God didn’t just leave me there. He sent people into my life who had already been through what I was facing. Some stayed for a season, some for a moment, but each of them helped me take one more step forward.

That’s why I created this space: so you don’t have to feel alone in your struggle. Someone out there has already walked that path. And maybe that someone is you, ready to reach back and help someone else.

What Writing Has Taught Me

Writing has given me more than I can explain. It’s helped me:

Process grief
Reflect on my faith
Say the things I couldn’t say out loud
Laugh at moments that once made me cry
Let go of people and pain, I didn’t think I’d survive

Over time, writing became not just a way to cope but a way to heal. It helped me make peace with the past and open the door to a new future—even when I didn’t know what that future would look like.

And now, as I prepare to retire from the working business world, I’m doing something I never imagined: I’m launching a writing business. Running companies, managing projects, and leading teams was my life for decades. But this? This is a whole new adventure.

It’s scary. It’s stretching me. But it’s also exciting. And I’m so glad you're here to be part of it.

Why You Might Write, Too

Even if you’ve never considered yourself a writer, writing has something to offer you.

Writing isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being honest, with yourself and maybe, one day, with others.

It helps you:

Understand what you’re feeling
Let go of what’s been holding you back
Say the things that are too heavy to carry silently
Discover who you are becoming
Inspire someone else who’s struggling

Your story matters. It doesn’t have to be polished or poetic. It just has to be yours.

The Prompt Corner

The Prompt Corner is a special place to encourage writing. I want to encourage you to look at the prompts and start writing. Whether you are new to writing or a professional, sometimes, you have to try something new. I hope that you are always inspired to try atleast one thing.

Here are five writing prompts to explore your own story and reflect on why you write:

1. Write about a moment when writing helped you cope with something hard.

2. What’s something you’ve never said out loud but could write down?

3. Describe a season of your life when you felt lost—how would writing have helped?

4. Write a letter to someone who helped you through a hard time. What would you thank them for?

5. If you could leave one lesson behind through your writing, what would it be and why?

There’s no wrong way to answer these. Just start. The rest will come.

Free & Paid Tools to Support Your Writing

Whether you are writing for yourself or your profession, there are always tools to make it easier. Here are a few you might be interested in checking out: