Awww, 13, how exciting! Your whole life is still in front of you, you can be whatever you want to be! It is a wonderful thing
That sounds great too I suppose it is interesting for me to read this because I had to choose another career out of necessity, and it took me 20 years of hard study, really hard work, to in the end come the full circle back to my original love of art. And I always wondered whether I missed opportunities and such, whereas, if i had the free choice, maybe I'd be feeling exactly like you described and chose this exact path anyway.
I know, it's hard when you have to pay the bills, waiting to become a successful, paid writer takes a long time, most people can't afford to call it anything more than a hobby until that happens. I only write prose, I am really bad with poetry. I wrote 2 decent poems in my life, and they were the most difficult thing I ever wrote! I started with short stories - confessional, young adult, based on real events but always dramatised to disguise real people, also I wrote a practice novelette in first person, sort of a glam realism with deep characterisation of a female character, exploring issues of migration, independence, sex, relationships, trauma, high fashion, stuff like that. I wrote one murder mystery story and now I'm writing sort of an epic novel spanning centuries, social sci fi, supernatural thriller (I love vampires so I structured it around a vampire story). Hopefully once it is written it will make perfect sense
Thank you for sharing this, it was a really interesting read! What you said is exactly the impression I got, but in any case, that basic knowledge and years of practice will definitely come in handy. Because while I have a lot of ideas and good experience with people and characters, it is the basic story structure that I am learning on my own because I feel that gives me the best framework to make the idea translate well on the page.
It's always really tough, making these choices. The thing is, with most University courses worth their salt, the first few years you have to study and learn things you don't necessarily care about. But this is necessary in order to teach you work ethic, and to help you acquire the skill you can later use in a way you want. For example, when people think of a psychology degree, they usually think of reading various books, learning the principles of psychotherapy and seeing the patients. Nothing could be further from the truth. During an undergraduate degree, which lasts for 4 years, almost all the time is spent on learning Statistics (as a subject) and reading basic literature. Then a year of honours degree (research, transcribing interviews etc) then if you want to go in the direction of psychotherapy, doctorate course which lasts for further 4-5 years. Only in the last 3-4 years of this, you start seeing patients regularly, and after you finish the thesis and finally qualify as a psychotherapist, you get to do what you probably wanted to do form the beginning - counsel people and help them get through tough times and perhaps write a book on a subject that interest you. So if your current course is boring at times, it has to be, there is no way of escaping that
Awww, you are just TOO cute! I think I'm going to adopt you. Yes. You will be my mini me. My child prodigy. Now, where do I send the papers?
. I've always wanted to be a writer. Or rather, I've always been a writer - just not published. In middle school I lived in a paperback world and had this fantasy of having dozens and dozens of my stories published, so I began teaching myself how to write. I already wrote for the fun of it, but realized as a 'tween that nothing I wrote resembled the books I read. So, I studied favorite books and some adapted television screenplays I had in short story form, learning the rudimentary elements essential to creative writing. In high school, in addition to the required four years of English, I audited four years of Creative Writing and Journalism. I thought I surely would go into Journalism. But there were a lot of things going on, and I didn't go into Journalism. In retrospect, it was the right thing to do. I'm a novelist, not a journalist. . 20+ years later (yikes!) and about to graduate with a bachelor's in something else, the only something I have career experience in, has given me over to thinking about this very predicament with no small amount of trepidation. Do I go after a master's in the same career direction I've been headed, pursue a master's - even a Pd.D.? - in Eng. Lit. instead (I've often thought I would enjoy teaching English), or ... just continue writing? Each avenue has its own pros and cons. (And there's a long story behind my pursuing a degree in something I didn't really want, but that's another story. It does have its uses.) No matter how I get there, I will be published, and I will be prolific. . To answer your question, I don't think having a non-writing career behind me will be a disadvantage. I have a stable career that pays the bills, so I don't have to starve as I perfect my art. The degree opens doors to potentially providing me with more time to write, such as working part-time out of my home or even running our own business. We are not inexperienced; hubby and I have been conspiring how we can do this so I can devote more time to writing. But this only addresses the 'how can your prior experience help' part of the answer. . The other part of the answer might be, 'what will a potential agent/editor/publishing house think?' From what I've read and from the lectures I've attended, what really matters is whether or not your work is marketable - not where you went to school or what you studied (although, it doesn't hurt to hold a brand-name degree, whatever the field). Even published authors with contacts in the industry aren't guaranteed their work will sell this year. Publishing is a lengthy process and what was popular two years ago when you started soliciting your work may do so well today once its published ... but I've seen your name up here enough to figure you already knew that. . I think what can be advantageous is any credibility or reputation you may have earned in your previous career field. What about any honors or special recognition? These are your personal selling points. And most of all, can you write? Well, let me re-phrase that: can you prove to your customer (the agent/editor/publishing house) that your work is worth buying? Is it well-edited? Does the manuscript meet or exceed the customer's expectations? What about your product's marketability? And, are you willing to promote your own work? I'm sorry if couching this in business terms may be unfamiliar to some of our readers, but isn't a writer someone who sells their work for a profit (hopefully?). Publishing is an industry, and I think it should be approached as such. Make your experience your advantage. . Ack ... gotto go. Low battery. . Cosmic Latte It gives me the opportunity to someday work part-time in something that pays the bills. I will be published
I really enjoy poetry, although I'm even worse at it than writing. I really admire people who use female protagonists, I just can't seem to grasp it... but then again, I guess you have a decent amount of experience . That actually sounds like a very interesting story, I've actually seen very few S.F vampire stories, personally I avoid vampires altogether after Twilight... *shudder* Truth be told though, in the sword and spell fantasy epic I'm trying to write one of the races I loosely based off of vampires, but then I got so scared that people would associate them with vampires that I covered them in black scales... They'll never know...
It's not easy that's for sure! Because it seems that entire storytelling structure is centred around a male hero. And as much as people claim that the same "hero journey" can be applied to females, it can't, not quite. The thing is, this comes to me as a non-negotiable aspect, I have always written female protagonists, I just can't help it. It's easier in short stories, but in a novel-length story, especially one that is not exclusively a romance, it gets complicated because all the classic plot solutions you would normally employ, especially at climax points, just don't ring true for a female "hero". Oh, god, I so know what you mean (about Twilight) The thing is, I have always wanted to write a vampire story, and just as I got the opportunity do write, the whole Twilight thing happened. Not that my story in any way resembles that story, but still, people roll eyes nowadays as soon as you mention writing a vampire novel. I suppose, at the rate I am writing, by the time I finish, in couple of years time, Twilight might as well be forgotten Haha, ok, I won't tell (you sellout )
For myself; I started writing at the age of 13 because that's what I wanted to do when I got older, and last year I took a part time creative writing course, so I guess I have a bit of both types.
Definitely not the first. Somewhat the second, although I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with writing at times.
