Writing – The Fire Ignited

I’ve told you all before that I love writing. I believe I even told you that I wanted to publish a book when I was younger. There was no certainty that this dream would ever happen, so I moved on. I started this blog because I figured that was all I could do. Well, that dream is back, and I’m excited to tell you all about it.

the dream’s beginnings

When I was younger I discovered that I had a love of stories. I always had a book with me. In fact, my grade 6 teacher said she couldn’t think of a time when I didn’t have a book. My love of books developed into a love of writing. Making up stories was so much fun, so I started it as a hobby. At first I wasn’t sure how to make up my own, so I would make up my own story lines to my favourite movies and television shows. I would let my friends read them and they always had high praise for the stories I wrote. It got to the point where they would ask every day at school if I had new chapters ready.

No Short Stories Please

Because of my love of writing, English class was my favourite class. Whenever the teacher would say that we were going to write stories, I got super excited. Excitement turned to disappointment when they said it would be a short story. You see, I would get an idea for my story, but then in order to tell the story, I needed more words than a short story allowed. Because of this, I wouldn’t do as well with the story. I also disliked writing poetry. It was then that I knew I was a novel writer.

After graduation

Graduation came and went and now I had to think about what I wanted to do with my future. I was working in a fast food restaurant, looking to move out on my own, and didn’t know if I wanted to go to University or College. While in school, I was determined to become a vet technician (basically a vet nurse). However, my grades dashed that goal, and I didn’t want to pursue it. I deemed myself not smart enough. I found a school online for writers. The tuition seemed reasonable, and they had a published author as your personal tutor. They sent you your assignments, graded them and gave feed back, and were there for any questions. The best part, at the time, was there were no deadlines. I was pumped.

The Problem

Of course, there has to be a downside, or this blog wouldn’t have happened. No deadlines meant no urgency to do an assignment. I remember this one assignment that took me two months to complete. It wasn’t a long one, and once I sat down and actually did it, the assignment was quick to complete. I was supposed to find averages – average number of words on a page, in a paragraph, and so forth, in a book of my choosing. That doesn’t sound so bad. You would be right, except that I hated math. Why would I have to do math if I was writing? The school took tuition every month, so for two months I was paying for nothing. Shortly after that I dropped out of the school.

one dream dies, another arises

I continued writing after this, thinking maybe I could do it on my own. I actually completed a book and had a friend, who had published already, help me format it for publishing. However, that is as far as I got. I kept having this thought in my head that I wasn’t good enough. My words are not big and fancy enough. Sure, my friends said it was good, but they’re just being nice because they’re my friends. These thoughts plagued my mind and I went no further. I was defeated by myself.

The New Dream

After I started going to church, I started to think that I should be a teacher, or go overseas to work in an orphanage. To be clear, no one at the church was telling me to do this, I was listening to my own thoughts. I know, that makes me sound crazy, but I don’t mean it like that, so lets move on. One of my friends asked me if I even liked kids, to which I said I didn’t know. So, she encouraged me to volunteer in the children’s ministry. I did, and found out I loved kids. So, I started to work in a daycare, and dreams of starting my own daycare floated around my head. That’s as far as that got.

Returning to an old dream

Time went by and I was beginning to think that my dreams would never come true, yet I never stopped dreaming. And no matter how many times I put the dream of writing aside, it always came back. Some may call it a sign that I was meant to write. As a Christian, I believe those nudges came from God. He didn’t want me to give up. So, I started researching ways I could make money by writing, other than being an author. Blogger sounded interesting, so here we are. I was content to just chase a blogging career. Then I was invited to a Christian Writer’s workshop. It was great to hear from other published authors and learn from them. They listened to my questions, and gave answers as best as they could. Hearing how they overcame obstacles in their careers was inspiring.

The Fire Reignites

After that I knew what I had to do. I am going back to my childhood dream of becoming a published author! I found the book that I completed and put aside. The writing is….well let’s say it needs some work. So, I am going to work on it, revamp it, edit it, and get it ready. Then I’m going to find an editor, someone to make my cover, and I’m going to self publish. This was the route that was recommended to me by others as a starting point. Hopefully, as I continue to pursue it and publish more, I will grow in popularity enough to make it a career. Don’t worry though, I’m not dropping the blog. I will continue to write my blogs, and chase other dreams I’ve talked about. I hope you will continue to follow along and encourage me on this journey.

What about you?

Do you have a dream that you have put to the side, or given up on? Were you believing the lies of your mind that tell you you’re not good enough, that you’ll never be able to make it? I’m here today to encourage you. Don’t give up. Chase your dreams, and surround yourself with people who will support you. You’re never too old to chase a dream. Don’t have one? Get one. Chasing dreams will bring an excitement to your life that you can’t imagine. It won’t always be easy. There will be hurdles. Don’t give up. And if you need someone in your corner, I’m there. I hope that by chasing my dreams I can encourage and inspire you to chase yours. Dream big, or small, but dream. The only limit to what you can dream is yourself. Anything can happen if you try.

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