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Thursday, November 8, 2012

How Did I Get Here?


I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up! And it only took me twenty years.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was a little kid. I even knew when I started college.

And then Real Life intruded.

Surely you've met Real Life. Real Life is that guy who tells you that what you want to do is unrealistic. Real Life says, "That's not practical." Or "You can't make a living doing that."

I entered my freshman year of college as a Creative Writing major. I'd excelled in high school writing classes, and I was constantly writing stories, poems, or song lyrics (I look back now and wonder who that sappy, overly-romantic, slightly insane girl was).

But I digress...

The point is, I always loved to write.

But Real Life got it the way.

Just before the start of my sophomore year, Real Life paid me a visit. "You can't become a writer and get paid for it," Real Life said. "You need a Real Job. And to get a Real Job you need a Real Major."

And, because I was 21 years old, I believed him.

So I changed my major from Creative Writing to Communications.

And I graduated college, and I got a Real Job. In fact, I got lots of 'em.

I went into Public Relations and Marketing, and I'm darn good at it (if I do say so myself). Even though I enjoy my career, I still felt something was missing.

And it finally occurred to me why.

I wanted to write.

No, I needed to write.

So, after much soul-searching, career-concerns, and financial-fear... that's what I did.

I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote until I finished the first draft of my first novel, a middle-grade fiction book called The Secret Seventh Key.

I was elated when I wrote the last line. I did it!

Little did I know... My work had just begun.

And that's why I started this blog--to share my dream with you in the hopes that you'll share yours with me.  And then we can take this journey together.

7 comments:

  1. First, congrats on finishing the book. Second, I'm in same boat and yes, daunting that now the work really begins! @_lagold

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  2. Congratulations, not only on finishing the book, but - more importantly - on figuring out what you want to do with your life and going for it! Good luck! May you have a long and fulfilling career in publishing ahead of you. :-)

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  3. Thank you Lori and Caryn! I'm glad we're in this together. :)

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  4. Well, hello blog post I could have written, right down to the PR part! I recently did an attic cleanup that involved digging through a "box of memories" and found a little sign my mom had cross-stiched to hang on my door when I was eleven. It said "write at work". Guess where that is now? :)

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  5. Great post. Yes, the work has just begun! But the journey is so worth it. It's great to hear about the progress of others, so we don't feel so alone out there. Keep writing!

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  6. Yeah, that Real Life guy can be such a downer, huh? He threw me off the creative track for more years than I like to admit. But hey, we're baaaaack. Take that, Real Life! Tx for joining my blog, I joined yours too. Hope you'll join us some Thursday for our weekly Thursday's Children Blog Hop (bunch of us pre-published types posting about whatever keeps us going with that writing thing).

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