Maybe you come from a long line of writers, or wrote a bestselling novel the same day your coordination finally allowed you to grasp a pen with your pudgy toddler fingers.
But if you’re like the rest of us, the signs were a little more subtle. But they were there. Oh, were they there.
1. You read in a lot of inappropriate places.
Walking down the street, on a bike, behind your textbook in class…
2. Which is why the day you got your first library card was the best day of your life.
Though you had to replace it a few times because the numbers wore off surprisingly quick.
3. But the day you got an A- on an English paper was the worst.
Don’t worry, we know it never happened again.
4. Your friends hated getting books for Christmas.
Worst. Christmas. Ever.
5. But not you. Books were the only gifts you cared about.
And you definitely spent the rest of winter break reading them all by the light of the tree.
6. Your favorite day of the year was when you received the Scholastic Book Fair catalog.
You went nuts over those things, ordering every new Goosebumps and Baby-Sitters Club you could convince your parents to pay for.
7. Even though you got carsick, you always read in the car.
Didn’t matter if you were driving two minutes to church or on the long journey to grandma’s house. You always brought your book in the car and insisted on reading until you made yourself sick.
8. Harriet the Spy was your hero.
Hey, if people are talking in a public place, it’s fair game for your notebook.
9. Though sometimes you pretend to be Nancy Drew, solving mysteries in your neighborhood.
You may or may not have “borrowed” your mother’s vintage dress and scrounged up an old magnifying glass to complete the look.
10. The second you finished watching a movie, you immediately wrote dialogue for its sequel.
As soon as the movie was over you were frantically continuing the story in your own words. It usually involved you becoming best friends with the main character.
11. You were convinced your script was better than the original.
Come on, Ninja Turtles: Revenge of Mom was a masterpiece.
12. You were always imagining your friends as characters in your latest story.
Your real-life BFF was the spitting image of the superhero sidekick in your latest comic adventure. Coincidence? I think not.
13. During vacation, you’d force them all to reenact your stories.
“No, no, no, Johnny! Do it again. And this time? This time do it with feeling!”
14. Your parents asked if, maybe today, you should “get some fresh air.”
You know you have a problem when your parents think you read too much.
15. So you created your own reading fort.
Which, on top of being cozy, had the added benefit of not being able to accommodate adult-sized humans.
16. You’re seriously considering making a one now.
I mean, you don’t really need that walk-in closet, right?
17. Someday, you’ll build an entire room with wall-to-wall books.
Bonus points if you can snag one of those rolling ladders.
18. For now, though, you’ll just shamelessly shove your face between the pages of a real, live book and inhale the scent of your childhood.
And because, who are we kidding, the smell of books is fantastic.
