Sonia M. Rompoti, MSc, Bsc

We often talk about our “first crush” in the context of love, but what if that early flutter in our hearts wasn’t about a person—but about a story?

When I first set out to write this piece, I thought I’d be talking about a boy from school. But then I realized my true first crush was much sneakier. It came in the shape of a worn paperback, snuck into bed with a flashlight. It was the smell of ink, the creak of the spine, the unexplainable thrill of reading a line that felt written just for me. My first crush was on fiction. And maybe yours was too.

The Writer’s Origin Story

Every indie author has an origin story—and for many of us, it begins not with a fancy MFA or a viral Wattpad post, but with a crush. That irrational, impulsive, hopeless devotion to words.

For me, it was a rainy summer and a book by Ζορζ Σαρή. The main character was confused, clever, and felt everything way too deeply. I remember thinking: “Wait, we can write about this? We’re allowed to say things like that out loud?”

That moment unlocked something that never closed again.

I wasn’t just in love with the book. I was in love with the idea of writing. I wanted to be the person on the other side of the page.

How a Crush Becomes a Calling

Crushes are intense. They’re obsessive. You think about them all day. You replay moments in your head. That’s how it started with writing. I carried a notebook everywhere. I wrote scenes under my desk in math class. I rewrote movies in my head, adding better endings.

Back then, I didn’t know I was becoming an author. I only knew I couldn’t not write. I didn’t care about structure or publishing or even finishing. It was just about getting close to something that felt powerful and beautiful.

Fast Forward: The Indie Author Life

Years later, I still feel it. Every time I open a blank document, I get that same buzz. That same giddy, nervous, butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling. Writing still feels like a crush. But now, it’s also a relationship—with deadlines, heartbreaks, rejections, and breakthroughs.

That first love matured. I learned about editing. I faced criticism. I published. I failed. I tried again. And somewhere along the way, I realized: being an indie author isn’t about waiting for permission. It’s about chasing that first spark with reckless hope and a whole lot of stubbornness.

So, Who Was Your First Crush?

Maybe it was a character. Maybe it was a writer. Maybe it was the act of storytelling itself.

We write because we fall in love—with voices, with pages, with ideas that won’t let us go. That love might evolve, but it never disappears. That’s what keeps us going even when the algorithm ghosts us and the royalty reports make us question our life choices.

💌 I’d love to hear your story. Who—or what—was your first crush as a writer? Leave a comment or share your thoughts in our newsletter community of almost 1,000 writers. Let’s talk about the moments that made us fall in love with writing in the first place.