What I Want To Do When I Grow Up (Aka MY JOB)

 "Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader -- 

not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon."

E.L. Doctorow 

This is one of my favorite writing quotes - and I had a vinyl decal of it that I had directly in front of my desk that year during my first year of college. It's a quote that almost makes me lose my breath because of some of the experiences I've had while writing. I also have another writing quote on my rib cage - "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader." To me, reading and writing are all about feeling. Taken from my One Tree Hill blog post, I described my writing tattoo:

"I was writing the finale scene in DEFTILY (one of my fanfic books I published) one day; an exchange between Peyton and her father. While writing the scene I broke down in tears and cried my heart out while writing and finishing the scene. I felt so connected to Peyton and to my story. It is to this day the most memorable writing experience I’ve ever had.

While finishing the formatting for the book, I decided to add a quote to the third page. The one I found fit perfectly.

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader” Robert Frost.

To this day it resonates so strongly with me and I think about it every time I write a creative piece. I have the first 2 lines tattooed on my ribs, and they’ll never leave my side or my mind."

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to have a job in the creative field. For a long time I wanted to be an actor, but when I started writing FanFiction for my favorite shows and realized just how much feeling I put into it, I immediately knew that was the career path I was going to follow.

I have some great stories in my head - one in particular that I've outlined. Unfortunately for me, college and being busy with school work all the time leaves less than desired free time. And with the little amount of free time that I have, I don't like the feeling of being pressured to write something. That's why I haven't written a story in quite a long, long time.

NOW - let's move to the point of the post. Just wanted to give some backstory. I have a friend Nat who I met online about 2 years ago. She has been working diligently and passionately working on getting her first (BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN) novel manuscript published. I expressed interest in wanting to be a Beta-reader for her book - basically somewhat of an editor and someone to generally look it over and make comments. Through working with Nat, I fell in love with editing. 

I still want to be and author and write books, but in order to make money and be financially stable, I know I have to have a stable job. I have fallen in love and discovered a passion for reading the manuscripts of people that I know have as much passion for writing as I do, even though I don't seem to express it by writing frequently. Currently my career path idea is to be an Acquisitions Editor; an editor that reads manuscripts and decides which ones move on to the next stage of the publishing process. My family and friends have been incredibly supportive with this (now that they know if I land a job in editing, I'll actually have a stable income).

I was just in the mood to express something personal to you guys about my life and where I'm going with my schooling. I'm currently studying English with a concentration in Creative Writing (4 Literature classes this semester!).

I hope that you all, if you're in college, or are going to be soon, will study something that you're passionate about (if you happen to know already). Seriously, find something you love and go from there. :D