Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Melissa Miller. Please read more about Melissa in the bio footer.
Writer’s Stop (Photo credit: Stephh922)
When I was three years old, my father bought me a collection of Golden Books. I was in my first days of pre-school, but he thought it was time I learned how to read. Every night, I would climb into his chair with him, and he would read the stories aloud to me. I don’t remember the exact moment I learned to read, or what story it was, but by the time I reached Kindergarten, I could read fluently. I have spent my entire life loving books and stories.
When I was old enough to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The natural answer was, “A writer!”
In college, I pursued an English literature degree paired with creative writing. Perhaps it was because I had always known I wanted be a writer, that I never asked myself the incredibly important question, “How do I become a paid writer?”
Surprisingly, none of my professors thought it was necessary to include “How to find a job after college” in the syllabus. Since then, I have been a full-time writer, an editor and a blogger, but I have also been a full-time waitress, bartender and cashier. Today, I write full-time at work, and when I go home, I write to keep my prose and imagination limber.
The first thing you need to understand about becoming a professional writer is that it’s very competitive. This means each job for which you apply is receiving many applications. Each magazine or newspaper to which you submit your work is receiving multiple stories.
You will be rejected, ignored and dismissed. Your manuscript or story will end up in someone’s desk drawer or inbox, forgotten or overlooked. But take heart, dear readers-writers!
You aren’t a real writer until you receive your first rejection letter.
Once you reach that milestone, and have the guts to continue writing, you are on your path to professionalism. Failure is very often a necessary part of success as it helps as grow and hone our craft. Consider this quote from Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling:
“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
There’s a lot of discussion about the value of a college education these days, especially a degree like English literature.
“Do you plan to teach?” People would ask when I told them what subject I had studied.
“No, I plan to write,” I would reply.
And yes, there were moments, especially in the wee morning hours after bartending, that I wished I had studied anything but English.
Yet, I would find myself writing poetry at three in the morning, trying to capture, in words, the way the streetlamps gilded the tree leaves against the darkness; and I knew that I had made the right decision. To me, there is nothing more potent or magical than the written word. It’s something that is anchored within me.
If you’re interesting in pursuing classes in writing, check out these free online courses. There are also paths to earn your English degree online. One of the most valuable aspects of taking a writing class is the sense of community it offers. It will also give you a professional advantage by offering insight into the competition you will be facing.
There are few people who can be successful on raw talent alone. Seek out those who support you, who understand your craft and your ambitions; and never give up.
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Thanks Melissa..
I have been doing my blog since Sept 2007, while I have been working as a pizza delivery driver.. since Nov 2004.. along with my ongoing studies of astrology, oracles, mythology etc & the great mystery of Life as a Whole.. I am not a great reader of books, mainly astrology books, since I am more into cinema & the audio/visual medium.. ie. more ancient forms of story telling before books came along.. although the books I have read have had a great impact on me.. such as Jonathon Livingston Seagul, & Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach.. & The Alchemist, & Veronica Decides to Die, by Paulo Coelho.. And, I was also born in the same year a J.K Rowling.. in 1965, right in the middle of the 1960′s.. also the same year as my favourite artists, Bjork was born too.. the year of the Wood Snake.. While I have also kept a daily journal for about a decade or so now.. listing what I was feeling & thinking.. what I was going through.. what I was listening to.. what I was watching.. or what events happened etc.. And, all while noting various astrological aspects at the time.. ie. “As above, So below”… And, all of this helping me to learn how astrology works.. ie. “Oh that’s why I was angry.. because I was having a “Mars’ transit.. which also means, according to astrologer Steven Forrest, that if we are not being assertive in our lives & living the life we truly want to live.. ie. taking action, Mars, towards our dreams, etc. that we can choose either to be ‘the hunter’ or ‘the prey,’ in various forms in this mysteriously interconnected mythical or symbolic world…
Meanwhile it’s now 11.26am.. & here I am having just read your blog as I listen to the album ‘Spirit Bird’ by Xavier Rudd.. that I bought yesterday… While I have also been immersed in the words of wisdom of mythologist & modern Shaman Micheal Meade, talking about how the world, & therefore most of us for that matter have lost touch with our Souls.. suggesting that we all need to return to the ancient myths & stories of the world.. that were deeply imaginative.. intuitive & poetic.. The three main ingredients missing in the modern world & it’s manic-depressive state of existence… reading poems by the mystic poets Rumi & Hafez.. along with some more modern poets from time to time.. to return us to a sense of the eternal Truths, hidden behind all the appearances of the world in which we have seemingly Collectively all become lost… in a world dominated by the arrogance of the mind.. & a denial of the reall heart & SOUL of Life itself… Also suggesting that global events like the Boxing Day Tsunmai of 2004, the Flooding of New Orleans, & the Earthquake & Tsunami in Japan being three great symbols of our times, that mirror all of this need to return to the Soul.. which the modern world has seemingly totally lost touch with.. And, all of this coming to me since the much watched Cosmic event of the Century that was the ‘Transit of Venus’.. And, which also occured with Venus transiting through the sign of Gemini, the Twins.. the same sign as my natal Venus.. also known as the sign of ‘the Storyteller’.. While I also love the work of Shakespeare, of course as do many the world over.. I have also seen The Comedy of Errors & The Tempest at the new Globe Theatre in London.. And, he too, like me also has Venus in Gemini.. Gemini, is the sign of perception.. taking in all kinds of new information from all over the place.. opening one’s mind to the wonders of Life & the Universe in which we all finds ourselves, living on a little blue planet we call planet Earth…
And, so as Michael Meade, is suggesting to us all, we need to once again return to the Source of all life.. & become poets & deep philosophers, like the ancients…. to return to the heart of our unique own Souls, in a world that tries to make us slaves to economic rationalism & conformity etc… And, so I found myself sittig the in CIty Library the other day reading from a book titled ’1001 Paintings Youu Must See Before You Die’.. while listening to some Baroque guitar music on my mp3 player.. looking at all these wonderful paintings or snapshots of moments in history, from the 1900′s back to the Rernnaisance persiod.. Becoming totally immersed in the realm of “timelessness” of the “Eternal”.. And, so this is what Michael Meade, would say we all need to do more of.. to stimulate our hearts, minds & imagination, to see what is trying to awake within us all.. In a world where we no longer have Wise Elders anymore.. to help initiate all the young people in the ancient truths of life etc.. And, to follow the ‘still small voice” within, free of all the limitations of the Consensus world, where we may be free to reconnect with our own Soul’s once again… And, for more on Michael Meade & his work, go to http://www.mosaicvoices.org….. Ok then…
Darrell recently posted..Tending the Sacred Flame of the Soul Within….