Scribe Ambitions

Once upon a time I dreamed of being a writer, but I am not sure whether I have the talent. Somewhere along the way the dream seemed to wane. For lack of practice perhaps, or the lack willpower to make that dream a reality, or simply laziness. One of the reasons I'm putting up this blog is to see for myself whether I have what it takes to be a scribe.

Since I was a kid, I've been surrounded with a lot of reading materials. Mother has a lot of Reader's Digest magazines and condensed books she got from Grandpa. Father buys the newspaper almost everyday. Every weekend, we borrow news magazines from the church where we attended. We borrowed pocketbooks in the public library. We bought second hand books at a local Booksale shop. I would read a novel past midnight even if I have classes at seven in the morning. When I discovered John Grisham and Sidney Sheldon, I can hardly put it down. I would always say to myself, “just one chapter more”, but then it would take several more chapters before I would finally put it down. I've read novels by Danielle Steele and cry through it. Though my high school classmates never said it to my face, some may have labeled me as a nerd for bringing hard-bound novels at school which I read during breaks. When I read something really incredible, I'd wish that I was the one writing it. And so, that was how the desire to be a writer was born. Writing formal themes in grade school is a good platform to practice. We were required to write about a certain topic with a certain number of words. Mostly, topics are about our real-life experiences, and I would always count the number of words. I did not remember being required to make an original story. That would have been a wonderful exercise.

My first choice for a college course was Journalism, however the schools in my city did not offer that then. Going to another city to study is not an option, since I cannot afford it. So I took up a course in commerce. Though there are subjects that requires writing, it did not promote creativity, nor encourage passion of putting thoughts into the written word. I discovered though that if I put my heart and focus on an assigned writing assignment, I'd get incredible results. I myself is amazed at what I've written, and often, I have the feeling that something in me was being liberated. Some of my professors also took notice, but since it was just kind of part of an assignment, all they'd say is, “this is is good,” or “you write in an organized way”. I had planned of joining the staff for the school paper, unfortunately the click I had were not into it, so I did not go. What I did was write a journal of my everyday activities to try to articulate my feelings about things while practicing writing. I did that for a whole year. Years later I came across that journal and reread it, but it sounded too cheesy and there were things  that I'd rather forget, so I burned it.

After graduation, I've had several jobs but very unrelated to writing. Most of the writing jobs in the newspaper would require courses with writing subjects, and since I did not have any- any experience at all – I did not dare apply. Most of my friends say that there is little money in the literary industry. True, maybe. But I've also read a lot about people who are so successful in the writing field that its hard not to be encouraged. Besides, its not always about the money. It is the sense of fulfillment you feel after some passionate hours of work. And since its already the digital age, maybe it wouldn't be so hard after all. Maybe all I would need is a little inspiration.

Photo: kolobsek via morgueFile