I Found My Voice and Got Lost in the Words

 

Why did I write a book?

I am a quiet and introverted creative. When I told people I was writing a book, many of them were surprised and asked me why. Apparently, I must have seemed like an unlikely candidate to put pen to paper—and, to be honest, I even surprised myself.

Like many people, I often felt like I was not being heard.

While in a networking session, a meeting, or even a family dinner, I often struggled to enter into the conversation. I even had nightmares about losing my voice and being unable to talk or yell for help.

But somewhere along the way, I took a business book writing workshop and subsequently signed up for classes. While I didn’t want to write a book about my business per se, I did want to write about something that I knew—art and design. After a year or so of working with the writing coach, I engaged another coach who taught me the fine art of Oral Storytelling. This was where I gained confidence and found my true passion around storytelling. Sharing my stories verbally to a captive audience made me realize that my experiences resonated with my associates. And with the encouragement of my coach, I started to write short essays about art and design in everyday life.

The Green Velvet Chair is a collection of many of them.

Laura Ballerini

Author Laura Ballerini

Laura Ballerini, a designer who started much of her creative journey at a big city newspaper and now owns her own digital design boutique, seamlessly weaves together an unlikely array of stories about her inspiring mother, museum visits, online shopping, designing in the dirt, and many other adventures (including a visit to Graceland).

More posts by Laura Ballerini