When I was seven years old, my mother bought me several blank unlined exercise books.
It was her great hope that her young son would turn out to be artistic, and the purpose of the books was basically to see what would happen if I were allowed to "color outside the lines."
The Imaginary Worlds of a Child
As expected, it took me only a few weeks to fill those exercise books-- but I didn't fill them with drawings, I filled them with words; verbal pictures from the inside of my very lively imagination.
Purple honeysuckle about to bloom
Although those books are now long gone, I can still remember writing about my teddy bear's trip to the moon, and what it was like to live in our world if you were only the size of a bug.
My mother was actually a bit disappointed, but she really should have known better: A couple years earlier, she'd helped me write my first book. Maybe it sounds a little absurd for a five-year old to write a book, so let me explain what really happened: I had grown bored with the simplistic nature of books for "children my age" and one day had the brilliant idea that I would just write my own.
My mother had thought the whole thing to be "cute," and agreed to be my typist- so a couple of afternoons a week we'd sit down and I'd tell the ongoing story of a baby elephant's life in the jungle, while my mother typed my words. At the end of the session, I'd make a drawing or two to go with that day's "episode," which was often a reflection of something that had happened at my kindergarten.
We actually made it to page 68 before I grew bored... I might have reached the ripe old age of nine by the time I first started saying "I want to write stories!" in response to the age-old question "What do YOU want to be, when you grow up?"
That's really cute... but...
Cabbage White butterfly leaving a daisy
My parents thought it was "quaint," but also hurried to tell people that it was a "phase" I would grow out of.
I started journaling- in earnest- after my Aunt Ebba gave me a fountain pen for my tenth birthday. I was told it was a "serious" pen, so I started taking my writing "seriously," in spite of liberally spreading fountain pen ink onto many places it didn't belong.
At first I recorded only the bare facts of what was happening around me, but eventually I added more and more of my personal commentary about what "could" have happened and what "should" have happened, as well as observations about people and the strange things they chose to do. I also started writing down some of my dreams, because they seemed so far more interesting than my life.
Writing as Therapy
Although I wasn't really aware of what I was doing at the time, writing was already serving me as a form of "therapy."
"Red hot poker"
My childhood was very unsettled; we moved frequently, I was an only child, my parents were growing increasingly apart and distant, my mother drifted in and out of alcoholism and prescription drug abuse... the words in my journals sometimes felt like the only things "solid" in a world dominated by uncertainty, emptiness and a lack of routine.
I was maybe fourteen, the first time someone told me my writing was "good." At this point, my parents had divorced and I'd gone to live with my mom in the south of Spain, where we'd set up a new life with the man I'd eventually come to think of as my stepdad. I was attending an English language school and doing my best to switch my thinking from my native Danish to English and Spanish, and overall feeling deeply distressed and lost.
Writing- alone in my room- was a small light in my darkness.
And while most of my peers would moan and groan whenever we were assigned "essay" homework, such assignments always made me happy. My papers also made one of my teachers happy- and she encouraged me write more, once she'd moved past her initial surprise that English was my second language. I remember coming home to my mother and telling her that Mrs. Gomez thought I could be a writer.
Sadly, mom's response was a less than encouraging "That's nice, dear, but I don't think you can make a living doing that. You do want to make a living, don't you?"
A Writer... Being a Non-Writer... Writing
Although I decided against pursuing writing as a career, I never stopped writing. I also never stopped thinking of myself as "a writer."
Purple clover in bloom
However, it was not until my mid-30's I accidentally started writing "for a living."
Well... maybe not exactly a "living," but at least professionally, for compensation. A friend with an art gallery wanted to publish a monthly newsletter to keep in touch with her customers but confessed that she'd "always hated writing-" an issue that seems to afflict a lot of people.
So I offered to help.
Somehow, one thing led to another, and soon I found myself creating newsletters, ad copy, radio advertising scripts and more for a number of local businesses. Within a couple of years, I had more or less "fallen" into the IT industry. making a living as a contract technical writer, succeeding because I seemed to understand the "languages" of both the programmer/nerds and management.
At first, I felt a great sense of accomplishment because I was now actually making a living from writing. But it didn't take me long to recognize that I had turned myself into a "shadow artist" of sorts; writing other people's words, rather than my own. Yes, I had become "a writer," but I wasn't writing my words. So one day, I quit... and went back to marketing and sales.
So We Go Forward... Because We Can't Go Back
I remain a writer.
White pompom flower
I never returned to my original desire to "write stories," because I discovered I was really not very good at fiction-- I find "life" to be far more interesting.
But I write.
Because I am a writer... and it feels like I always have been. When I was five, when I was seven, when I was fourteen, and today. Sometimes it feels like I don't have much of a "choice" in the matter-- I simply feel most comfortable with the written word, when communicating. And there are words inside me, and they have to get out.
These days, I write pretty much what I want-- in my own voice. I'm pretty much done with writing for others, or to attempt to be "popular," or to please some editor I've never met.
Sometimes I get paid for my writing, but I don't write to get paid.
I find Steemit to be an awesome creative outlet because the community includes such a wide range of content creators with so many different interests... and that appeals to my sense of not wanting to be a "cookie cutter creator."
How about YOU? What's your story? Are you a writer? An artist? A musician? Is Steemit mostly a "creative outlet for you... or more of a social platform? Has Steemit changed how you approach content creation? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- start the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Nice dude! You're born to write almost lol! You were on a role early on. And you kept with it. Good story :)
I've written long posts on forums about topics, but I got better with a site in late 2013. I got better doing more. Steemit did change it for me as well. Smaller paragraphs is an improvement, shorter content is easier for reading in a sitting it seems. I have written more being here so I have improved more hehe.
It's a bit of a self-fulfilling thing. Writing is very much a practice; the more you do it, the better you get and the easier the ideas flow. After four months here, I'm just starting to hit my stride again... which was previously at its peak around 2005 when "social blogging" reached the pinnacle of its popularity... funny, how much Steemit reminds me (and a few others who have followed me here) of the sites we were using back then.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, as always!
It certainly is a journey indeed, most like anything. Have the experiences, improve. Have more experiences improve. Become a so called "expert" as I talked about in my last post, but always still learn.
So many things we do are-- basically-- a practice. We become "experts" because we do things repeatedly and consistently and with intent.
Since Steemit, I have become more of a writer because the rewards here allow me to justify spending a couple of hours a day writing "for its own sake." Previously, I've wanted to write more, but necessity has dictated that I had to stick with "income producing work." Of course, I'd still be writing here, even without the rewards...
writers are those who write.
first things first.
Common sense.
Although it seems like there's nothing "common" about sense...
I have written a lot in the past. I wrote novels, theological treatise, basic logs for myself, eulogies, fiction--none of it published, though I tried many times. My best success has been on Steemit.
Steemit has surprised me, and I'm at the stage where I need to think seriously about making the best of it, and actually plan posts with rough drafts, etc.
Without a doubt, Steemit is a unique venue and opportunity. I approach it how I have approached pretty much all my writing, other than Farcebook posts and online forum participation... just attempt to do my best each time.
Sometimes I end up really happy with it... sometimes not so much. And the odd thing is that the rewards don't seem to particularly correlate with what I consider "my best." But I think that's just the nature of the beast.
I suppose Hemingway summed it up best: 'Write the truest sentence you know' begin with that...
I learned to read at the age of two and a half years. My preferred pastime in the playpen was sitting in a corner with a colourful book.
I suppose it wasn't too long after that drawing became my second favourite hobby, followed closely by trying to write my own stories. I always had a very vivid imagination and could conjure up amazing tales on paper.
Sadly I no longer have any of my older works, they were destroyed by my ex.
However, to the subject of steemit, yes I have found a platform where I can express myself in my own way. I had all but given up after writing a couple of short plays, several poems, and the rough draft of a screenplay on my last laptop that unfortunately developed a virus and I was never able to retrieve them. So thanks to steemit, the itch to write has once again surfaced.
The diversity of contributors here also makes for an amazingly diverse audience. Now that I am "relaxing" a little bit in my writing scope (no longer feeling trapped by the perception that I "must" write magazine-style articles all the time) I've been examining some of my old notebooks of ideas... there's material enough there to keep me posting on Steemit for the next decade.
Thanks for sharing your life with us .. I am on here to meet ppl see and understand different cultures food faith diversity most important make friends who are like minded (which I have definitely found) if I get paid that's good if not that's good to this is a place to be me and some ppl actually like me . I'm very happy here keep steeming! 🕊
The community aspect of this site is amazing... and still slightly unexpected/surprising to me, even after 4+ months here. Yeah, the rewards are cool... but even if there were NO rewards, this still ranks in the top 3 of all the social content venues I've used in the past 20 years!
Yes I think for me it's the best of all the social media and by far the coolest 💯
Hi there, I started writing a lot when I began my blog (Romanian), 2 years ago. But I've been writing little stories in high school, like 15 years ago, trying to impress a girl I had a crush on. Writing is also cathartic for me, as I usually write in my personal journal. Pen and paper is the best form of writing for me. Upvoted, cheers ;)
Writing has definitely been good "therapy" for me, at many points in my life. It still is, in many ways... it's an efficient way for me to "empty my head" of too many swirling thoughts.
And you're right, pen and paper is great-- do that with all my personal journals... pits you more "in touch" with your writing.
exactly, pen & paper gives a way better connection with what's going on inside one's mind than writing on a keyboard :) I know what you mean
Keep following your dreams, writing is the best !
Agreed, it is... we'll see where the journey takes me.
I wish you continued success, by the way!
Thanks!