My Year 30 Epiphany- I want to be a Writer.

I had a milestone birthday recently. I am now 30 years old. You know it feels less weird to say that out loud than I thought it would. I’m genuinely surprised. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I feel settled into my life or maybe that I am moving in a new direction in my life? It is likely a combination of both of these things and more. I finally feel like I’m on a new path.

You know how they say a career has  an average lifespan of approximately seven years and then you starting feeling the itch to pursue a new one? Well a few years back I had that itch. I have been in my current job for nine years. I love working with children and have been blessed by the many years I have spent in the Child Care Field. It's not so much a change I was in for but a growth or evolution into something new.

In looking into my prospects I ran into the same problem I had after graduating from college that kept me from pursuing a Master’s Degree right away. I knew I wanted more education but nothing sounded right. Masters in Psychology, if so what type? What about a teaching credential or career as a Guidance Counselor? I had no idea and furthermore I needed a career stat! I couldn’t see myself investing more time and money into something I wasn’t even sure I wanted.  So here I was faced with the same problem and even less focus this time around. I had no idea.

Becoming a Writer was something I had always dreamed of doing. Around 1988 I wrote my first book in elementary school as part of a class project. It was about a young girl who had a time machine and traveled to the future and back. I even credited my young self with having come up with the idea for the discman, which wouldn’t come out in stores for a few more years. At the time, I hadn’t considered that the next logical incarnation of the walkman would be the discman.

It would be several years later before I started writing again. This time it be around 1993 and would be on my tiny Mac Classic. My memory is very fuzzy and unfortunately I no longer have this computer, but I know my first manuscript for a Young Adult Chapter book is stored on that computer. I made it ¾ of the way through the book entitled “Ravyn’s Quest” before I got Writer’s Block and couldn’t figure out how to end the story. I never completed it. The experience taught me a valuable lesson. Always outline your whole story first ~ start to finish (well for me at tleast I need to have a rough idea what I plan to do with the story at the end, but I know this is debatable amongst writers.)

In my junior year of college in the year 2000, I was able to peak my interest in writing again by taking a class called, “Writing Books for Children.” It was great. We got to write everyday and learn all the in and outs of the publishing process. I felt like this class gave me all the tools I needed to become a Writer some day. I put the idea on the backburner for quite some time.

In 2008, I remembered my aspirations for writing and desire to write a children’s book and tried to come up with an idea. My stories have always been largely built upon my characters. My inspiration for stories comes from them. I have to have a character first and then I can build the world up around them.  So I tried to find that character. I was a little obsessed (ok a lot obsessed) with Meerkats at the time due to the program Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet. I tried to build a character, “Molly Meerkat” and story around it. It just did not come together. There was no inspiration there.

I continued my search for a new career, not really seriously thinking that Writing was going to be a contender, however it would soon be apparent that I was premature to make that judgment.

My husband has always been trying to find ways that we could connect better, and one of the ways he considered was to bring me into his world a bit more. My husband is an Internet Entrepreneur, a Renaissance Man or Internet Guru of sorts. He has built a career on the Internet and has been a force to reckon with for over 13 years now. In  February 2010 he introduced me to wordpress so I could build a “blog.”

I took to blogging like a duck to water. If ever there was a way to get my juices flowing this was it! I just loved blogging. I loved designing my blog, visiting other blogs, writing blog posts, and promoting my blog. And the added bonus was that my desire for creative writing was rekindled.

In June 2010, inspiration struck. My first children’s book main character, Iris the Colorful Spider was born. The manuscript is written and now I am learning more about the editing and publishing process. The journey has just begun and I have finally found my focus. I want to be a Writer. I have come to terms with the fact that this may be a process that is years in the making but, I am up for it! Carpe Diem! I hope you enjoy the ride! I know I will.