Many writers develop the passion to write because they were avid readers as children. The rabid craze wouldn’t be denied and years later, they have come face to face with an amazing addiction for self-expression.
If you didn’t write, what else would you have done to fill the void? What other forms of self-expression would have taken hold of you? Do you have a secret talent?
Inventor and infomercial celebrity.
Oh, Lordy.
A potter.
As I’ve learned over time, I’m not satisfied with any one thing, regardless. I’d be a combination visual artist (drawing/painting) and mobility guru, spending my time teaching older adults how to be as mobile as they can for as long as they can (I have no skill in that trade but wish I’d made different schooling decisions so that I could).
And throw in part time banjo picker and clogger, wood and leather craftsperson, with some creative blacksmithing on the side.
And no, I never have figured out how to accomplish all this.
A singer
An actor
A juggler in a traveling circus – chain saws on fire.
Wildlife photographer. Or crime scene photographer. 🙂
An actor and a singer. I just saw my high school’s performance of Les Mis last night, and now wish very hard that I had taken drama at some point. I technically still can, I’m only 23, but I don’t really want to go back to school.
Movie maker. Spielberg and I are the same age. But at a young age in the military in Korea, I couldn’t get professional movie equipment, so I settled on still photography. Had a pretty good second career at it. Today, movie equipment is widely available, but alas, the career opportunities have passed me by…
I guess I’m not following the normal path. Instead of giving up one thing for another, I’m doing one thing THEN another. I was a swim coach for years. I had the privilege of motivating youth through their transformation from ordinary kids to amazing and sometimes elite athletes. And now I’m learning to write, a dream I’ve had since I was 11 and encouraged by my own swim coach at the time.
I’ve always loved houses, those in films and in real life. I’ve drawn house plans since I was in jr high. I figured I’d become an architect. Then one day during career week, an architect took the stage to speak about his career. His first sentence was, “If you’re not good at math, this job won’t be for you.” Totally blew my dreams out of the water. I still draw floor plans. But now they’re for my characters instead of for me.
I picked many careers that interested me before I settled on my financial/accounting career that ultimately led me to the Energy Industry. (I went from Art, to Geology, to Journalism, to Business. I’m a generalist and most things interest me.)
When I finally settled on Accounting/Finance and called my mom to let her know, her first words to me were, “But you’re not good at math.” Uh, thanks for the encouragement, mom. We laugh about that even now. I graduated with a high GPA and had my energy job a year before I graduated, plus an offer for employment with Price Waterhouse when they were a huge national firm.
My college had put on my record that I had 6 hrs deficit in math which held me up from taking Statistics, but I ignored the university’s advice and took Stat anyway. I received a B, one of my lowest grades since I was an honor roll student, but the point is – Don’t let ANYONE stand in the way of your dreams. Not a school, not a speaker, not even your own mother.
I’ll never forget the day I decided to write. I was attending a Zig Ziglar motivational speech when he said that he wrote his non-fic book, writing it a page a day. A light bulb went off for me. I knew that if it was important enough for me to write, that I can at least do it a page a day. Anything is progress. I started writing and have never stopped.
I hope you find something in architecture or design that nurtures that passion you have for it.
Jordan, you missed your true calling–you should have been a guidance counselor. Wish you’d been mine!
Thanks, Debbie, but I probably wouldn’t listen to my own “advice.” Ha!
I tell myself that building a story is like building a house — one stud at a time. (I have an additional comment I could make about studs found in construction, but I’ll restrain myself.)
Omg. Thanks for the studs chuckle. *snort*
I always have to remember where I am before
I release my tacky comments. don’t want to offend.
I worked as an office manager in construction for 4 years. I was a bit tacky when I took the job. When I left, I was so much worse.
Say no more. I brought oil & gas wells to market & worked with field guys. I hear ya.
Go you! Math is such a stigma. Or at least it has been to me. I don’t enjoy it, I was never good at it, and one of my most traumatic experiences in grade school was due to a math teacher. All that aside, I’m glad to hear you encourage people to pursue things, even when some throws out advice like the advice Laurie heard.
I think about that in relation to exercise science and physical therapy too–not so much math specifically as all the talk about degrees of motion etc. If I ever have the opportunity to pursue exercise science, I’m going to remember your words, cast aside the doubts and just do it!
I was a professional musician for over 30 years before I had any luck with my writing.
After I sold & endured my writer journey, I loved listening to interviews with musicians & song writers. I had never known how similar those creative endeavors were. I found lots of positive messages in the words of musicians.
Every time I think about the commonalities between writing fic and writing songs, I always think about “Ode to Billy Joe” — that singer kept people’s attention wondering what the girl and Billy Joe threw off the Tallahachee (sp?) bridge. Same with fic.
And for me, the old time country musicians were the best in the story-telling category. Red Sovine, C.W. McCall, just to name a teensie portion.
A Bible scholar. I’m fascinated by the original Biblical languages, the history of Bible times, the civilizations and cultures of Bible times, the subject of Biblical prophecy.
Perhaps a professor.
Love it Jim! I have studied the WORD my whole life, and I too love it. Recently narrated a version of the Bible into audiobook, the Darby Version from the 1890s. I am working on one day writing a ‘historical fiction’ of the world before the flood, a thriller set around Noah.
Perhaps once I get it started in earnest, we can chat.
That sounds like a very good idea, to chat one day.
The Darby Version. Well done.
Supervillain!
Ha! Supervillain all around. Just not the conniving political type.
Artist.
I never would have thought it since a little over a year ago I was in the solidly stick stick-figure crew…. But after I had some serious burnout I started arting. I have improved mega-shipping-container- ships’ worth over the last 14 months and I love it. I have spent a lot of time in hospitals and at doctors with my parents over the last year and a half… just lost my dad at the beginning of the month. It has saved my soul, given me new eyes, revived my sense of whimsy, and reinvigorated my creativity. I wish I’d started sooner.
Sorry for your loss. Losing a dad is the worst.
Thanks.
Sorry to hear about your dad, Penny. It’s super hard to lose a parent. Hugs to you.
It is. I can say, with conviction, adulting sucks!
Writing is my void filling fallback.
In high school I learned French with the teenaged fantasy of joining the Foreign Legion. I wised up and joined the US Marines at 18 planning to make a career out of it, possibly sign on with a military contractor after my 20 years in the Corps. When that came to a screeching halt after smashing both ankles and twisting up my knees, I eventually filled the void by writing about characters who had done what I dreamed of doing. Except now I didn’t actually have to get shot at, so that’s cool. And I get to meet cool people like you all!
A jockey, but since growth killed that dream, I’d go with world-class equestrian.
A Master Gardener. If I couldn’t write, I’d dig:)