My Journey As A Writer
When growing up we all have some dream of becoming something. Perhaps a superhero, policeman, fireman, or anything along those lines. For a little while I was going to be a singer. Never really caring that I couldn’t sing my way out of a paper bag. As we get older and learn more beyond the younger bubbles we lived in, our dreams expand. Now a marine biologist, archeologist, actor, or something that brings fame & fortune. Sometimes we continue and become these ideals.
In high school, I wanted to make movies. Not just produce and direct, but also write it. The idea of creating a world and immersive characters would put all my ideas into play. I had been writing, in some form since I was 13. I went into it thinking there was a perfect way to write. I just had to learn it. My first bits of writing were regimented because I thought that was the way. While there are pieces that must be written a certain way, that didn’t have to be how I wrote.
Over time I took more to poetry. Quick, exact, and creative. It fits with the crazy emotions I was feeling during my teens. I had so many ideas and I needed to find a way of getting them out. With that need and my failed attempt at video production, I wrote. After school and years of just work, I wrote a lot. I had created a large backlog of writing. I just didn’t know what to do with it. I eventually thought publishing would be the way to go. But the thought of being judged and laying out some personal words, just to be rejected stopped me. I thought my writing was beneath what was considered publishable.
The books sat on a shelf, under the bed collecting dust, with an occasional re-emergence to add some more or to completely rewrite. It wasn’t until I went back to college and had my writing critiqued by both peers and professors. This helped e with the process of constructive criticism. Editing played a huge help in getting the best writing out of me. I won an award for my creative non-fiction piece. It stoked the embers of passion for writing. I had some validation that what I wrote was good, but there was a process. Nothing ever comes out perfect on the first go.
With this new ignition, I began writing anew. I revisited a few older pieces, refreshed, edited, and reworked. I expanded the type of writing I was doing. While I am still in school, it helps transform and grow my writing. I have focused some energy on the creation of my blog, podcast, and website. While my longer pieces are still on the shelf, I have created so much more beyond them. They will get finished it is a process I have to let move naturally. In the meantime, I am still producing writing daily.
From 13 to 40, writing has been a constant for me. Perhaps I didn’t always know how I wanted to use it, but like everything, it is a journey. I hope you enjoyed this quick glimpse into my writing adventure. I hope you have found your niche in writing. If not, don’t worry, it will make it to you.
