When it comes to telling your story, do you know what experiences you have that will tell the world about what made you who you are?
I read an article earlier today about an answer Mike “Dirty Jobs” Rowe gave in response to an interview question. It had to do with not following your passion in life if it doesn’t prove successful in sustaining your life (of course that’s my take on it).
I’ve already proven to myself that my passion for writing stories and painting pictures will NEVER pay the bills, it shall remain a minor focus, part time at best. There are a few reasons for this. First, I work a little over 40 hours per week (no complaints, I’m blessed to have a low-paying job while others struggle to get work). Second, although I have been writing for many years, I have not been properly trained in literature (specifically, creative writing) and therefore, will not appeal to very many (outside of my favorite people–very common folks). My audience is and will remain limited. And then, there’s the fact that it is important for me to follow God’s path for me with life, family and friends. There is no guarantee that being an author is in my future but I will give it my best shot and see what happens.
After reading Mike’s response, I remembered when a friend asked me why I ever thought I could be a writer and what in the world would I know enough to write about. I thought about my experiences in life (1) and how that could be a factor in helping me write (there are many stories, my friends). I told my friend that would not be the problem. The problem would be how I could accomplish it.
I’ve studied a few things here and there but I haven’t taken writing courses, yet. In jobs as analyst and for reports writing, the style is very different from writing a book–the “government style guide” is quite different. With the knowledge I have, it would probably be easier to write a how-to book than a story book but I’m not in this for easy, I’m in it for creativity sake–an outlet for what’s inside my mind. I already have a few stories that I’m working on. What I have found in my research is that I can utilize skills from jobs and experiences I’ve had over the years, coupled with human observation, to put into characters. Also in my research, it has been told to me that I should, “write how I speak,” and “just let it flow because you or someone else can fix it later.” So, that’s my plan or was my plan.
Recently, I became a publisher. I knew nothing about creating ebooks or printed books. I had a couple of unknown writers provide me their books a few months ago; to learn about the processes, I bought ebooks and searched the internet for articles and blogs, and I viewed a few YouTube videos for information on self-publishing. As of yesterday, I have three books with several sales on Amazon.com, in Kindle format and one of those on Createspace for print. Oh, and I have this here blog website. I had to learn to set up a website, too and it only took something I already possessed, my administration and self-management skills.
I believe that I have enough life experiences to create many stories. I promise, I will apply syntax in a way that will make some cringe and others glad that they don’t have to struggle to read. And, I will tell my stories, one page at a time.
So, what’s your story? How can you use your experiences to tell it? Just don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t tell it.
Jay 🙂
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