[Forward][ Back ]

Hello again. Welcome to my Tuesday posting.

Yesterday I spoke about where my love of writing began, as well as when I realized that writing wasn’t going to be just all fun and telling stories. There was a business and technical side too, a lot of hard work that my teenage self had no idea about. It wasn’t that I was a silly girl with silly dreams of achieving things easily and without effort. It was more that I hadn’t thought about the hard yards yet. Seriously, though, who does at sixteen?

All through high school, I kept writing. But I found that between exams and trying to figure out my future, I started a bunch of stories but just couldn’t finish them. It was an awful feeling. The ideas never stopped coming, but because my head was crowded with real-life stuff, I couldn’t finish anything.

It wasn’t until I decided on which way to go that I was able to get back into the swing of things. Right after school, I took an office administration course at a local TAFE (technical college) and it all came back to me. I suddenly found more time to write, and churned out a bunch of short stories, which all happened to be of the horror variety. I was so excited that for the first time I started to let a few people read them.

The great thing about this course was that it taught me how to type—both on typewriters and computers. Learning the QWERTY keyboard and how to touch type changed the way I approached my writing. I no longer had to write in a notebook until my arm felt like it was going to fall off. It was great! And a skill that still helps me today. Not to mention that we got a refresher in grammar. This admin course not only helped me in my writing approach, but it helped me find a field to work in.

By then I’d realized that writing wasn’t going to pay any bills just yet, or help me survive in the big, bad real world. It was a kick in the pants, but also a fantastic way to help me along.

And so, I started working full time as a junior receptionist, moved onto the accounts department, and eventually settled into the superannuation administration field a few years later. On the side, I kept writing and even submitted stories to several horror magazines. Once again, the rejection carousel began. I was still busy telling stories but felt like no one wanted to read them. Well, they read them, but they weren’t interested in publishing them. Although, I did manage to get myself a one-week work experience gig at a magazine in the city. It was a lot of fun, and showed me a completely different side of writing.

Then I got hit with a huge dose of reality and my life changed in a way I never expected it to. A wave of negativity and instability took over. For the longest time I just concentrated on throwing myself into work. The bitter pill of reality was hard to swallow and totally stole my creativity. Thinking about stories never completely left me. I just didn’t have the energy to put them together.

Eventually, I started up again. But this time didn’t submit anywhere.

I was determined to work on my craft, better my skill before tackling the submission process again, and went back to writing for the love of it. Telling stories because it’s what I wanted—needed—to do. I have to admit that at this stage in my life rejection hurt a lot more, and I was sensitive enough to let it hinder my creative output. If there was ever a time in my life when I felt that I might give up writing, it was then.

I’m happy to say that like I mentioned yesterday, once the writing bug bites you, it’s a disease you carry for the rest of your life. So I kept imagining, kept hoping, and knew that one day when my life settled into some sort of untangled mess again, I would get back on track.

And so, Real Life Got in the Way…