I am a Writer and therefore a Blogger

This morning I attended a seminar on creative careers hosted by Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Since I was 8-years-old, I have always dreamed of becoming a Published Author, and now that I 'm twenty, I know that gaining such an Illustrious Title will not be as simple as I used to think. I, along with everyone and their mother, have had a novel or 12 cooking for most of my life, and while I'm always constantly working toward that most Resplendent Goal, I know I'm not going to get there overnight.

At the seminar, most of the speakers gave tips that I probably definitely pretty much knew, but it was the reiteration of these tips that started the rusty cogs in my mind grating against each other again. Here's a few things I relearned, as well as the reasons I decided to start this blog.

1. Write every day - I knew this. I really did. The point of being a writer is to write, and the only way to get better at writing is also to write, so, therefore, I should write. I knew this in my brain, but my brain was always giving me excuses such as "I have too much homework" or "I need to hang out with friends" or "ALL THE TUMBLR FEELS". Those aren't necessarily valid excuses. I MIGHT have too much homework some days, but the free time I do have when the homework is done I spend on the aforementioned Tumblr, or, even worse, Imgfav, basically the worst website ever. I have time to write. I just need to sit down and do it. I need to Hone My Craft and the like so that I might get noticed by a Real Publisher and become a completely for real Published Author.

2. Do not give up - A few weeks ago I had a severe crisis of inadequacy after watching a required documentary on Charles Dickens for class. After watching the documentary, I closed my computer with a snap and wailed to my electrical engineer roommate, "I'm never going to be a good writer because I'm not like Charles Dickens!" She gave me a confused look and I suddenly realized I was comparing myself to Charles Dickens, one of the greatest writers of all time. . .of course I felt inadequate. BUT, the point is that you may have some rough spots in your writing career, but that is no reason to give up entirely. One of the panelists at the conference said "The difference between a writer and a published writer is that the published writer did not give up." These are words with which I heartily agree and just might have to write on a sticky note and post on my wall somewhere. Possibly right up next to my Green Bay Packers poster.

3. Market yourself - Admittedly, this was probably the one I had never considered. At all. I simply knew that I wanted to be a writer, but had no idea how to get there. I figured it would happen, because I wanted it to. But things in life don't happen like that. Almost ever. Especially in the world of writing. So get your name out there. Try getting short fiction published. Network. Work with friends who critique your writing, etc. Don't sit there like you don't really care, thinking that "one day I'll be discovered." No truly great writer was ever discovered that way, and if they were, they were already dead, so it didn't matter to them anyway. Which brings me to my final point, which is kind of the point of this entire post and the reason for this blog.

4. BLOGGING - Honestly, I knew people did this thing called blogging, but I simply never had an interest in it. I had always defined myself as a Writer of Fantasy and Fiction, and had no interest in "factual writing". The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that blogging is a way to Hone your Craft, and much more legitimate than I had realized. People have even been offered book deals through the discovery of their blogs, and what writer wouldn't want that? There is a creativity to "factual writing" as well that goes beyond the typical college paper. But even in a blog, I don't have to tell only facts. You would have no way of knowing if I am a 20-year-old college student as I say or not. I could be the hybrid Alligator-Penguin King of the North for all you know.  The fact is, I can publish whatever I want on this blog, from short story pieces to more life based reflections like this one. I could publish lists of "Ar" words, characters I've created, or my favorite Pokemon. I could write poetry, book and movie reviews. I could write about anything I wanted. This blog holds a host of brilliant though as-of-yet unexpressed thoughts waiting to be unleashed on the unsuspecting internet!

At some point during the seminar I was sitting in my chair, my feet freezing in my black business pumps, listening to a panelist talk about being a writer. As I listened, my mind was transported back to fourth grade, when I was ten-years-old, and I told my teacher that my dream was to become an author or editor when I grew up. I was struck by a deep, joyful sensation, a sort of pride that here I was, ten-years-later, seriously working to attain my dream. I don't know if any of the other kids in my class attained their dreams, or even if they kept hold of the same hopes as I have, but I know that my entire life has been leading me to this point. I am a writer in my soul, but it is up to me to work and make something of it.

And so there you have it. This is the reason I'm starting this blog. Because I am a writer and I will not give up.