Hmm.. I notice that it is 2 years since the last post in this thread, but what the heck? I'll scribble my little thoughts down here for the record anyway, and maybe someone will get lost and find themselves ambling down this way again.
I actually found this thread because I was looking for the term 'writer', and was surprised to find very few results. Within three quarters of a million posts I guessed there might be a few budding writers in here, but we seem to be a rare breed.
I am a writer. I think most writers would admit to having always been a writer. But I was lucky enough to be given the chance to pursue writing as a career, rather then merely a hobby squeezed in between work, family, sleep and paying the bills.
When I was in junior school, my age still in single figures, I adored writing stories. I was fortunate enough to be in a school which focused heavily on creative writing opportunities, and I wrote furiously. I think I worked my way through more exercise books than anyone else!
Sadly, as is so often the case, secondary school tried hard to beat any form of creativity out of me. For the entire time I was at secondary school, from the age of 11 to 18, I was never given the chance to write a story. Appalling, isn't it? But that's UK education for you.
After graduating from university four years later I became a school teacher - teaching English. I tried hard to beat the system wherever I could, and give children the chance to write - and loved it.
However, 12 years later I decided to pack in teaching. I simply wasn't being given the chance to teach. I was a paper pusher for most of the time, which didn't interest me.
So, one day I simply quit. And found myself jobless.
Good plan.
I decided I was of the age where any long term decisions I was going to make about my life, my direction, and who I really am would have to be made soon. So I began writing freelance.
I wrote for hundreds of companies across the world, initially for a pitiful sum of money, but as my reputation grew, and the fees rose, it became a very lucrative career.
More recently I have been able to spend more time working on my own writing projects - a novel, several plays, and a collection of short stories for children.
I think that if you have found this post because you are also looking for writers on here - drop me a line, let me know I'm not alone here. Maybe we could organise a Frihost Writers' Circle!
But above all - if you have found this post because you have an itch deep down that tells you that you want to be a writer - go for it. Don't ignore it, don't abandon hope, and never give up. Writing is a disease - and the only cure is to get those words out in the open; you'll find the itching subsides for a while, at least.
Last edited by jsarnold on Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
I would like to be a writer, but I don't have the time now. My life has been busy, and I don't have the time for cool stuff like writing.
Real writers make the time! Get up an hour earlier, halve your lunchtime, take the train to work instead of driving so you can write then - there are always opportunities.
If you really want to write, then you'll be driven to make the time.
I used to have a full time job with an hour's commute either side of it. I used to get up between 4-5am and spend time writing for an hour then.
If you don't write, it may be because, deep down, it's a fantasy rather than a craving.
)
