I'm still a pre-published book author so my journey will certainly differ from others, but I'm sure all writers can relate to certain aspects of all our stories.
Maybe you can relate to this scenario: In third grade, you discover books really for the first time and become an avid reader. In your free time and at teacher's prompting, you being writing little stories. You know, the ones only a third grade you can write. In 1976 that meant spacemen with odd names from Mars or other "far off" places. Or humorous tales about your classmates. Maybe it was dreams of traveling somewhere yourself or creating your first "world" which resembled your backyard more than a distant land, truth be told.
It was there, third grade, that I learned I not only loved books but I loved writing. Throughout my school years, I strove to create new work and to exceed teacher expectations. This meant, that in eighth grade, a minimum 10 page report became a 90+ page tome. Or in high school how a 5-page short story became a 30+ novel idea condensed only because I didn't want my teacher to have too much to read.
I wrote and wrote and wrote some more. I even wrote when I was serving in the Navy and upon my return home. Somewhere along the line pragmatism took hold and I set my writing aside as an unrealistic hobby - something that was fun but which I could never know as a career.
Those few years are tinged with regret as I move forward with the knowledge I left a lot of myself in those boxes of plot ideas and stories. It's almost seems harder now, as if I've started over again then if I had at least kept writing continuously.
You can't go back and change the world, or alter a moment of your life. Regrets, I've learned, hold no purpose; they only hold you back. So while there may be no "re-do's" in life, we can jumpstart our dreams and pursue what we were meant to do.
And what I was meant to do was write. So I can do nothing else.
Maybe you can relate to this scenario: In third grade, you discover books really for the first time and become an avid reader. In your free time and at teacher's prompting, you being writing little stories. You know, the ones only a third grade you can write. In 1976 that meant spacemen with odd names from Mars or other "far off" places. Or humorous tales about your classmates. Maybe it was dreams of traveling somewhere yourself or creating your first "world" which resembled your backyard more than a distant land, truth be told.
It was there, third grade, that I learned I not only loved books but I loved writing. Throughout my school years, I strove to create new work and to exceed teacher expectations. This meant, that in eighth grade, a minimum 10 page report became a 90+ page tome. Or in high school how a 5-page short story became a 30+ novel idea condensed only because I didn't want my teacher to have too much to read.
I wrote and wrote and wrote some more. I even wrote when I was serving in the Navy and upon my return home. Somewhere along the line pragmatism took hold and I set my writing aside as an unrealistic hobby - something that was fun but which I could never know as a career.
Those few years are tinged with regret as I move forward with the knowledge I left a lot of myself in those boxes of plot ideas and stories. It's almost seems harder now, as if I've started over again then if I had at least kept writing continuously.
You can't go back and change the world, or alter a moment of your life. Regrets, I've learned, hold no purpose; they only hold you back. So while there may be no "re-do's" in life, we can jumpstart our dreams and pursue what we were meant to do.
And what I was meant to do was write. So I can do nothing else.
(detail a bit of the fits and starts of my journey, regrets and leaving things behind you can't change, and always look to the future, with goals)
"Those few years are tinged with regret as I move forward with the knowledge I left a lot of myself in those boxes of plot ideas and stories. It's almost seems harder now, as if I've started over again then if I had at least kept writing continuously."
ReplyDeleteThe life that's been added during those withdrawal times serves a greater purpose than you know. It tends to take the "me" out of the picture and bring the focus to Him. It's ultimately the Lord who renews our commitment, gives us the opportunity, and deepens the experiences to precede what he wants written.