August 31, 2015

Was I Meant To Be A Writer? - WN 022

27 minutes

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Hey friends. Have you ever questioned your writer-ly destiny? Then Episode 022 of the Write Now podcast is for you.

What if I simply wasn't meant to be a writer?

I received a letter from a very bright, very talented young writer named Amanda who was wondering whether she was actually meant to be a writer.

Her letter affected me so much that I decided to dedicate this episode to exploring the topic.

Amanda writes,

I'm not sure if I'm meant to be writing... I like coming up with characters and thinking about the situations they would get into. I like developing the characters. I love dialogue particularly.

...But I spend maybe 5% of my writing time actually writing. The rest of the time, I am in misery. I agonize over my faults until I can barely move, let alone be creative...

I'm just wondering if I should even be writing at all. Can someone maybe have a passion for writing but then shouldn't do it anyway?

Wow. It took me a while, but I was finally able to provide Amanda with an answer, and I'd like to share it with you.

There is no "should".

The first thing I would do is question your "shoulds" and "meant tos".

When you wonder whether you were "meant" to be a writer, or whether you "should" be writing, whose mandate are you following? Who is imposing those "shoulds"? Fate? God or a higher power? A teacher, professor, or friend? Yourself? That feeling of enjoyment/satisfaction/joy when you're able to write?

I went through a time when my own "shoulds" seriously conflicted with what I wanted and needed to do with my life. I would bet that you have been through something similar as well.

What's hard to remember amidst all those "shoulds" is that your life is not just one pre-determined path. Your life isn't just point A to point B. It's point A to LITERALLY ANYWHERE. There are thousands of possibilities, and thousands of choices you make in any given day that will determine the course of your life.

You were given (or have, depending on your perspective) a talent for writing. And it's up to you to decide what you want to do with that talent.

Do you want to write as a hobby? As a career? Or do you not want to write at all?

The only person who can make that choice is you.

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

Let me know what conclusion you came to, or what happened because of the choice you made, by sending an email to hello [at] sarahwerner.com or sharing your thoughts in the comments below!

Book of the week. (Okay, books.)

I got lost in not only a great book but a great series this week. Karen Marie Moning's excellent urban fantasy "Fever" pentalogy (like a trilogy, but with five parts!) begins with Darkfever and ends with Shadowfever and wow is it a wild, gripping, breathtaking ride.

I read all five books in some sort of fever of my own, often staying up significantly past my bedtime to read just one more chapter.

The premise? MacKayla Lane travels to Dublin, Ireland to identify the body of her sister and best friend, Alina.

While she's there, she notices that things aren't quite right, and embarks on an adventure to not only identify her sister's killer but prevent the extinction of humanity at the hands of the warring Seelie and Unseelie Fae courts.

Read this series if you love urban fantasy, mysterious strangers, Dublin, tightly knit plots, bookshops, self-aware heroines with swords and spears, saucy brooding heroes, and epic storytelling.

Do not read this series if you are sensitive to foul language or graphically depicted adult situations. (Seriously. I'm not kidding. It's graphic.)

Otherwise... I hope you don't have to get up early for work the next morning.

Keep up-to-date with my book-related adventures on Goodreads.

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By Sarah Rhea Werner

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