Being a Writer
I don't remember the grade exactly but I know I was writing with a pencil and on large ruled paper (below) meant to teach penmanship. The assignment was to write a story and I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. I drew a crowd. I can seriously still hear one my classmates saying behind me "get more paper! She needs more paper!"
Pretty much for as long as I can remember I've loved words and have wanted to be a writer. My heroes growing up were Erma Bombeck and Nora Ephron. I never really considered writing as a profession, though, in a way I've heard people like Elizabeth Gilbert say that they did. I heard Gilbert speak last winter and she said she took a vow, like nuns or priests do, to be a writer. And that's been her singular endeavor.
Even now, as I have a book available for purchase, I'm an editor, student, and IROP agent before I even come close to touching a semblance of being a "writer." Something's gotta' give but then that's where the kicker comes: writing sure doesn't pay the bills (unless you're Elizabeth Gilbert). I was reading a bio on Stephen King, here's a quote about his struggle to become a Writer: "But due to his lack of income he was unable to further pursue the novel at great length and it too was filed away. King took a measly job of pumping gas earning $1.25 an hour."
I know I'm four or five books from being a Writer who gets to wake up in the morning and sit down at the writing desk to see where the words take me, and that's just fine. In the meantime I get to travel, help people with their writing, and earn my doctorate, which is all a heckuva lot better than pumping gas.
So I'm working toward the dream of waking up and having nothing to do but write, which is the life I had when I wrote Lost Edens. Isn't that funny? If you've read Lost Edens you know it's not exactly a light and lighthearted read but the very fact the book exists is proof enough that my life since the events in the book has been pretty darn great--I've lived the dream.
Pretty much for as long as I can remember I've loved words and have wanted to be a writer. My heroes growing up were Erma Bombeck and Nora Ephron. I never really considered writing as a profession, though, in a way I've heard people like Elizabeth Gilbert say that they did. I heard Gilbert speak last winter and she said she took a vow, like nuns or priests do, to be a writer. And that's been her singular endeavor.
Even now, as I have a book available for purchase, I'm an editor, student, and IROP agent before I even come close to touching a semblance of being a "writer." Something's gotta' give but then that's where the kicker comes: writing sure doesn't pay the bills (unless you're Elizabeth Gilbert). I was reading a bio on Stephen King, here's a quote about his struggle to become a Writer: "But due to his lack of income he was unable to further pursue the novel at great length and it too was filed away. King took a measly job of pumping gas earning $1.25 an hour."
I know I'm four or five books from being a Writer who gets to wake up in the morning and sit down at the writing desk to see where the words take me, and that's just fine. In the meantime I get to travel, help people with their writing, and earn my doctorate, which is all a heckuva lot better than pumping gas.
So I'm working toward the dream of waking up and having nothing to do but write, which is the life I had when I wrote Lost Edens. Isn't that funny? If you've read Lost Edens you know it's not exactly a light and lighthearted read but the very fact the book exists is proof enough that my life since the events in the book has been pretty darn great--I've lived the dream.
No comments have been added yet.
