Today in Statistics 121, the girl sitting next to me asked me if I was a writer. I was a bit startled by the question, until she gestured at my notebook where I had been writing snippets of a story instead of taking notes. I found myself nodding and smiling in answer to her question without hesitation. We both turned our attention back to the lecture (mostly), but I keep thinking about what would have happened if she'd asked the follow up question: "So, what have you written?"
Uh . . . Well, I have a blog. And the margins of most of my notebooks have random bits of potential stories. I have a few short stories floating around from my high school days, and once upon a time I started writing a young adult novel, but I'm only five pages into it after five years, so . . .
That's how I would have had to answer the girl in my stats class. So while I think of myself as a writer, I have to wonder if others would think the same if they knew that I haven't ever finished anything that could be considered worthy of publication.
When I got home from stats, I stumbled across this article which made me wonder if I've stopped reaching. In high school and even before, I wrote all the time, and I'm not even counting the stuff I wrote for school. We're just talking about fun stuff here! I made a dedicated effort to take writing classes and tried to improve. I wrote every day. Now, the only writing I get done is in the margins of my stats notes.
So, I guess the real question is, how do I maintain a concerted effort to be a real writer and still get everything else done that I need to? And don't suggest that I should drop out of school to become a writer, because I'll do it as soon as someone gives me permission. ;)
