Should I Be a Writer

Should I be a writer? This question has come to my mind many of times but for some reason I have previously not been able to pull the trigger. Writing has always been so easy to me yet never been something I thought would be worthwhile cultivating and turning into a true skill. It seems to be a relatively natural skill of mine as I can seriously free write for hours without ever dropping the pencil. However, with all skills, they are our weapon and without sharpening will become dull. So now I write this out to really test myself and also provoke possible thoughts and emotions that may very well lead me to an answer or at least in the right path. Thank god for YouTube as I see so many various paths to use in this journey. The best part is I have the full support of my family and friends to at least do as a hobby even if it is never monetized which would of course be nice but I do feel as if I need an outlet.
 
            Throughout my life I’ve always been introverted and in my own thoughts especially as a child as I spent most of my time alone. My father raised me with the help of the multitude of women in his life. I feel as if I should really sit down and recount my life to figure out just how many there were. I’m often on the road going to work when a memory will pop in my head and I’ll say to myself “Oh yeah I forgot about that chick but I only lived with her for two weeks”. As this was a normal event in my life you can probably understand why I don’t have many friends and find it hard to really give the effort as an adult. So as a child I used to create stories with characters as I would draw and often cutout to use as action figures. I would sit at my desk in the 3^rd grade up to 5^th and crank out stories. For my Standards of Learning (SOL) which is the final exam for those grades in Virginia I wrote this long story based off of a Pokémon character I made up. This was not what the instructions said to do but I missed class for the SOL and had to make it up in the library. Like most kids and even adults I didn’t bother to read the instructions I just skimmed to see how long it had to be. As I wrote this fictional story I went into so many different stories within the story as if I were going to create the show myself. This started roughly around 8 o’clock and before I knew it lunch came and passed even though the prompter who was just the librarian told me to go to lunch, I never did. I just continued and cranked out as much as I could until 10 minutes before the bell rung and my teacher stopped me and took the exam. She semi scolded me as I was only supposed to be in there for 2 hours. She must have thought I was playing around wasting time as I was a known skipper. Yes, I was constantly skipping class in the 4^th and some of 5^th grade. Let me just say Zelda Ocarina of Time, Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Snap almost landed me into special ed for skipping 75% of the 4^th grade. When she picked up my papers and saw how many pages I had burned a whole through (write with vigor) she was impressed and looked fairly confused and astonished. I know most kids may write for a short period of time but often get bored and chew on their erasers as they count all the holes in the vinyl ceiling. I was slightly relieved to be able to go home but a part of me was pissed as I was not done and tried my hardest multiple times to just end it but I could not do that injustice to my story. When I got my grade, I don’t remember what it was but it was a decently high score but they took off points because it did not follow the instructions and I did not even begin my final draft which was supposed to be on the special piece of paper that was supplied. She did take me to the side and said she enjoyed my story and my writing but could not give me the grade it probably would earn given different circumstances.
 
            Fast forward to my college experience I was in a writing class as it was a prerequisite for my major which had nothing to do with writing. The first 10 minutes of class was dedicated to free writing which I thoroughly enjoyed. Most of the students did not seem to care for this as much as they would sometimes even give the Professor a hard time about it. They were also only in that class as a prerequisite. As time went on I was able to see and hear the writings of the students who were there for writing and I always had admiration for their thoughts, vocabulary and way with words. I was surprised to hear that they felt the same about mine, probably minus the vocabulary as I tend to keep my writing simple with only a few stand out words. This I am consciously working on. When life took a change in course and I decided to use the skills I developed in the United States Navy for cash flow over my dreams I dropped out of college. When my teacher received the notice she did not hesitate to contact me and ask if I could stop by her office. Being my favorite professor there was no question in my mind that I would take the time to visit. I loved her passion for writing and her idiosyncrasies she displayed with her look and aura. She told me she was fond of my skills and that I had a true story to tell as I would often write based off my experiences without holding back no matter possible repercussions of others perception on my life. As I could easily tell my upbringing was quite different than my peers. She explained that if I chose to I could have a future in writing and how she hoped I would continue to write. As we parted ways she gave me a book of her personal collection in hopes to inspire me to continue writing. As I was young and unintentionally ungrateful I only read the first 3 chapters. She is the only Professor that really stood out to me while in college and that I would be able to pin point in a crowd of people. I do not mistake this as something meaningless but something to hold on to as a message.
 
            Final thoughts, I will explore this new realm in my life and see where it takes me. My hopes are that you will join me in this exploration as I promise to explore all possible crevices and stories of my life that made me the man, father, husband, friend and entrepreneur I am today. Also, I would like to bring light to my aspirations for the future as I become the wielder of my own universe with spoken words and passionate thoughts. I have Law of Attraction tattooed on my chest so you can expect this will also be a part of my writing. I hope to hear feedback from you all and let’s walk this journey together as I am very much interested to hear of you own.

Thank you