When I was a kid, I thought I would be a lawyer. Not that I really knew what that meant at the time. I was around five years old when some adult told me lawyers make a lot of money, so that’s what I should be. That’s the worse thing that could have been said to me. If only that person would have talked to me about following my passion…
As a kid, I had a natural attraction to words and stories. I loved books and made good grades in English class without much effort. My favorite school activities were book fairs and weekly trips to the library. However, being a writer wasn’t something I thought about.
During my teenager years, I started writing short stories, poems and song lyrics, but it wasn’t until I was in my twenties when I started having a serious desire to be a writer. I wanted to write novels like Zora Neale Hurston, Terri McMillian, and Jackie Collins. Still, I did nothing about it. I continued to write short stories, poems, and song lyrics for my own pleasure, but I never really shared them with anybody; just a couple of friends.
It wasn’t until I had to declare a major in college when I finally knew that I wanted to be a professional writer. It was an indirect decision though. I was a music connoisseur and wanted to work in the music business as an Artist and Repertoire representative. I know. I was all over the place. Anyway, at the time there was no such thing as majoring in the business side of music. Schools only offered music degrees to musicians or people who wanted to teach music. So, I picked the closest thing to the music business: Radio, Television and Film.
In one of the classes, we had to learn how to write television commercials. I quickly got the hang of it. That was all it took. The screenwriting bug bit me. I spent years learning the craft. The journey has been long due to a nasty habit of procrastination, but I’m finally at the stage where I’m ready to cross into the professional arena. I think I would have arrived at this stage when I was younger had I received encouragement as a child. I’m not blaming anyone. Back then, being a writer wasn’t thought of as a viable career. Still, a little direction would have been golden. Good thing it’s never too late to pursue your dreams.
The next time I find myself with the opportunity to encourage a young person about their future, I’ll make it a point to let them know it’s okay to go for the gold as long as it involves their passion.