In writing circles, especially among groups of newer writers, or in the spaces where readers interact with writers, this is a common question.

A very common answer is “I wrote my first book when I was five. It was a bout a crab… a dog… a horse… a world where I could fly…”

The point being most writers have always known they were writers.

My husband knew before I did. He knew years before I did.

It was my birthday, he gave me this epic batman messenger bag full of spiral notebooks and sharpened pencils. The card said, “Go write that book.”

That weekend I came up with the story that would eventually become Protective. Only at the time I didn’t know that’s what was happening. I just had a story come to me.

Stories did that off and on throughout my life. I saw TV shows and movies in my head. Didn’t think anything of it. I wasn’t a writer, that’s my sister (yes, she writes). I’m the one that draws.
I was told I wasn’t a writer. After all, I can’t spell my way out of a wet paper bag. If I tried to write, it was mocked. I stopped writing and kept to drawing. I was good at drawing.

Another fully realized story walked into my life, dragged there by a very persistent muse. At the time I was an adjunct professor. My courses didn’t “make” that semester, so I was essentially out of a job.
I decided to see if I could actually write a book. Even though I was also looking for a job, I still ended up with some extra time. Might as well use it.

I wrote my first full manuscript during that time. The next month was NANO WriMo, and I had another idea for another book. And… well it just snowballed from there.

Months later, I was talking to a friend, not knowing what I was supposed to do next. All of a sudden I had three books written and no clue what to do next. She saw that I had posted on social media that I had done this thing, but now what?
She recommended I join Romance Writers of America. And that put me on the road to where I am now.

TLDR: I started writing because some muse got demanding and made me do it, even though I never considered myself a writer before.