I've been writing since I was old enough to hold a pencil.  As my friend T-Mama puts it, "I can't NOT write."  I've never been published; maybe I never will.  I write poetry/song lyrics and fiction as well as non-fiction.  I've recently started my first attempt at a novel at the tender age of 29.  It only took just over 20 years to get serious about this!  It's tentatively titled Jigsaw.  It's about a guy and a girl and one very, very bad night that wrecks everything.  It deals with mental illness, something I've struggled with as a bipolar II with anxiety and depression.  Something I've seen close loved ones struggle with on a deeper basis (schizophrenia and bipolar). 

My writing philosophy falls somewhere between two extremes.  To convey this, I will "borrow" from two of my heroes:

"The truth is overrated.  Avoid it at all costs." - Tom Waits

"You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should've behaved better." - Anne Lamott

I think I fall somewhere in between.  With my novel, certainly avoiding the truth, for the most part, but weaving elements of my own life experiences in there as well.  It's a love story, but it's also a suspense/mystery.  With lyrics, I like to play around with words, conveying something I'm going through, but making it colorful.  I'm really having fun.