Born to Write

It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.

American novelist, short story writer, journalist, and Nobel Prize laureate, Ernest Hemingway, was born on this day in 1899 (died 1961).

Born to be write…or is that wild?

Truth is, I was always meant to be a writer. It came first from a love of reading, then from a love of wanting to express myself through the written word.

If there are regrets in this writing journey it is that until I reached a certain age I always said I wanted to be a writer, not that I was/am a writer.

These days, I call myself a writer, an actor, and an artist.

I’m all three.

I’m also a government drone and a retail supervisor at an amusement park.

Those are things that I do. They are not who I am.

Somehow I wish we could get that message across to our young people.

I mean, I’m glad for those who know by puberty exactly what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Without them, we’d have no doctors or architects, or lawyers…okay so maybe it’s not all good.

But then there are those of us who are a bit interested in everything. I went through three college majors in four years. Music to English to Speech. The last one got to the drama part, but at the time my college didn’t offer drama major.

I was accepted at a different university as an art major.

I graduated with my degree in Speech Communications. The University has changed that to Communications Arts, which sounds a lot better anyway.

I’ve never really worked in my field.

I went from social work (government) to politics to non-profit and back to government.

So, I didn’t spend all of that time writing, or calling myself a writer.

I don’t regret that my professional life took me down a different path. Let me tell you I’ve got some source material. And boxes of files with ideas.

Now that I’m making a concerted effort to make this writing thing work, I’m digging up those old files and mapping out some stories.

There may be two books.

For now, with the approaching weekend and work at the park, I’m struggling to do the re-writes to the script before my first public read-thru in September.

People think writing is easy. Some days it is.

That doesn’t mean that it’s good.

Sure I work to better my craft, to become a better writer.

But word-putting-togethering was what I was meant to do.

And, I’m doing it.

FIVE THINGS FOR YOUR WEEKEND

The Brutally Honest Guide to Being Brutally Honest
Josh Tucker at SmartBlogger
The point of brutal honesty is to be completely honest and let the truth speak for itself.

The Democratic Party’s Billion-Dollar Mistake
The New York Times
The Democratic Party’s fixation on pursuing those who voted for Mr. Trump is a fool’s errand because it’s trying to fix the wrong problem.

When it’s O.J. Simpson, we simply can’t look away
USA Today
Some 20 years later, even after he’s spent the last nine years locked away and out of the public eye, O.J.

GOP Budget Plan Moves Forward, Paving a Clear Path for Tax Reform
Independent Journal Review
According to the budget blueprint, mandatory spending will be reduced by at least $203 billion over the next 10 years.

Senators say Paul Manafort, Donald Trump Jr. will get subpoenas if they skip hearing
ABC News
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is threatening to issue subpoenas to compel Paul Manafort and Donald Trump Jr. to testify before Congress if they do not cooperate with the panel’s ongoing investigation and appear for a public hearing next week.

AND FINALLY…

American actor and screenwriter, Don Knotts, was born in 1924 (died 2006).


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