amarok2005
Ephemeral Spectre
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2005
- Messages
- 370
What intrigues me about this thread is the admission by the posters that they did not know what their direction-in- life/goals/career would be. There was not a day of my life I didn't think I was going to be a writer. In fact, it wasn't a matter of "if I became," it was more like planning it out, i.e., "I'll probably have to grow up and go to college before I can write the alien invasion story properly," or "I can't write a proper Talking Mongoose story until I actually read The Haunting of Cashen's Gap." (A book that still eludes me after 30 years of searching.)
To my father, there were no other jobs beyond accounting, and he tried to prepare me for such a course of life from the beginning. (I can remember from before kindergarten -- about age four -- thinking, "That's not gonna happen.")
Unfortunately, money from writing is insufficient for living (unless you get novels published; no luck so far). And I've always had poor luck with more mundane jobs because -- frankly -- I've never looked upon any job or occupation as anything but hours of useless activity taking me from writing.
I get caught in a vicious circle, though: Unemployment = worry and panic = I'm so nervous I can't write, so I can't use my primary interest to support me. Guess it's time to start applying to fast-food places . . .
As to the OP's query -- I have imagined alternate me's in scenarios based on possible turning points in life (that I recognized retroactively, of course). Oddly enough, I say after 13 months of joblessness -- most of them turned out to be worse than the present timeline. Even if I could back up time 40 years and re-do school, I still don't know what courses/careers I could follow that I would willingly "share" with writing.
Ah, heck, I've reached some of my publishing goals: A novella set in Andre Norton's Witch World, a novella with Charles Fort as the hero, two Jack the Ripper tales, Cthulhu Mythos stories and articles, flat-out science fiction, and -- finally, just this month -- a story set in My Own Fantasy World. Maybe there is more to come . . . Eat your heart out, Alternate Universe Chartered Accountant Me!
To my father, there were no other jobs beyond accounting, and he tried to prepare me for such a course of life from the beginning. (I can remember from before kindergarten -- about age four -- thinking, "That's not gonna happen.")
Unfortunately, money from writing is insufficient for living (unless you get novels published; no luck so far). And I've always had poor luck with more mundane jobs because -- frankly -- I've never looked upon any job or occupation as anything but hours of useless activity taking me from writing.
I get caught in a vicious circle, though: Unemployment = worry and panic = I'm so nervous I can't write, so I can't use my primary interest to support me. Guess it's time to start applying to fast-food places . . .
As to the OP's query -- I have imagined alternate me's in scenarios based on possible turning points in life (that I recognized retroactively, of course). Oddly enough, I say after 13 months of joblessness -- most of them turned out to be worse than the present timeline. Even if I could back up time 40 years and re-do school, I still don't know what courses/careers I could follow that I would willingly "share" with writing.
Ah, heck, I've reached some of my publishing goals: A novella set in Andre Norton's Witch World, a novella with Charles Fort as the hero, two Jack the Ripper tales, Cthulhu Mythos stories and articles, flat-out science fiction, and -- finally, just this month -- a story set in My Own Fantasy World. Maybe there is more to come . . . Eat your heart out, Alternate Universe Chartered Accountant Me!