Choosing
Did you choose to be a writer, or did writing choose you? There's a writing prompt for you. A full essay can be written in answer to this one simple question.
I've run across references to our choice to be a writer a few times recently. The first one was the opening sentence of today's post. This weekend I read a book called The Book of Dreams by Nina George. One of the characters is a book publisher. A piece of dialogue stood out for me. She said:
" Many people only discovered here in this city that they could--or had to--be writers. You cannot decide to become a writer. You either are one or you aren't."
A 13-year-old gifted boy later in the book says the following:
"A story found me in Oxford. That's what always happens: stories find you."
Another one I found in a 1st Place Essay in The Writer magazine. Bonnie Hearn Hill said:
"Now I know that we don't pick writing, writing picks us."
I thought about those comments after I finished the book (one I'd recommend, by the way. Read about it at Amazon ) I spiraled back to my first thoughts of pursuing the writing world, and I asked myself if I chose writing or if it picked me. Maybe the latter because there was always a desire to write from childhood on. I didn't follow up on that desire for a good many years, but the yen never left. Maybe my muse was following me all my life, tapping me on the shoulder, begging me to start writing more than school assignments. I ignored her much longer than I should have. I probably gave her gray hair!
We've all heard religious leaders saying they had been 'called' to serve, or teachers who have been 'called' to teach. It's very possible you and I have been 'called' to serve in the writing field. As writers, we do serve others as well as satisfy ourselves.
If you're a writer who has slipped in and out of the writing world, you might ask yourself why you came back to writing. What was it that made you want to try again? Is writing so much a part of who we are that, once started, we can't totally leave it?
The second quote above regarding stories finding us runs in the same vein. Sometimes, a story does find us, almost knocks us over the head. It's up to us to latch on and make something of it.
So, what is it? Did you choose to be a writer, or did writing choose you?
I don't know if I have ever told you, but your blog is like a deep breath of fresh air, always inspiring. Thank you for taking the time to write. My dad was illiterate but a fantastic story teller and I learned at his knee. When reading Dick and Jane, I wanted details!
ReplyDeleteWhat a joy to read your comment about my blog. Thank you. My parents were both great storytellers, too, so I guess we come by it naturally.
DeleteAlways a reader, I let stories transport me. Then, as an academic, I wrote papers for journals. When I retired, I longer for another way to connect with readers. Later, I found my voice learning to tell my story, but I had to learn the craft of memoir first.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another inspiring story, Nancy!
I think readers and writers go hand in hand. I've only known one writer who didn't like to read. And, I mean that--she really did not like to read but was a wonderful writer.
DeleteNancy, I grew up the daughter of a printer/publisher. Daddy read to me and brought home simple children's books in galley proofs. At age 12, he set me to work as an "at home" proofreader on special projects. So I think the blood of writing was cursing through from the start and eventually found me through Daddy's work.
ReplyDeleteHow fortuante you were to start in the writing world so early.
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