ok...so who grew up and became what they wanted to be?

Not me. I didn't grow up wanting to be a court reporter. It was going to be something I did while I pursued my dreams of becoming an actress. (And when I realized how much work went into THAT and how much rejection I'd encounter, the court reporting seemed easy. Which is a ridiculous thing to say.)

As of yesterday, I thought I wanted to be a writer. Then I received the second rejection from the same agent who's still urging me to send him more of my material in the future. And I ask myself: am I really that much of a masochist?

Butterfly, I guess this struck a chord with me this morning.

So are you pursuing writing full time now that you have the time?

I guess it depends on how you look at it. I wanted to be a writer -- that was my goal from 3rd grade. In high school I wanted to be a TV writer. I chose not to pursue that because I didn't want to live in LA. I have published a nonfiction book, and I make my living writing training courses.

I'm not making my living writing fiction, but I'm using my writing, working from home (on a farmlette in the foothills of the Cascades with dogs and horses) in a job I love, making a very good salary, and writing fiction as a hobby.

Not sure I became what I wanted to be when I was young, but I'm blissfully happy with what I am. So I guess I'm not complaining.

Not me. I never wanted to be a writer. I just tried writing to see if I could make some quick and easy money to pay some bills. I did, so I've been at it ever since.

I never wanted to do anything other than write.

I wanted to be a pirate..

I wanted to be a writer from a young age.
My life is better in some ways than I thought it would be.
On the other hand, despite a lot of unexpected good fortune, I'm a lot poorer and sadder than I imagined I'd be when I was a kid.

butterfly said:

:, (

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Oh, I'm just being pitiful. Ignore me.
I'm pregnant and hormonal right now.

Half became what I wanted to be; the other half of that hasn't arrived yet.

I wanted to be a pirate. Alas, no pirates in the 1970's. I wanted to be a captive of a Sioux Indian. Aparantly, that wasn't in the cards either. I'd hoped to have the likes of Rhett Butler rip my bodice only to discover walking around in those kinds of dresses was 1) painful (2) caused crowds to point and laugh and (3) pushed my boobs up so high I could now use 'em as a head rest.
I wanted to chart new galaxies and feel the Force flow through me but the only people talking through a respirator were my grandparents...and THEIR idea of the Force and MY idea of the force involved bowel movements and feeding tubes.

So, in the end, I figured out I could be whatever I wanted...by way of pen, paper, Webster's Dictionary, and lots of white out (no computers back then peeps).

I wanted to be a mathematician. I'm working on becoming an accountant.

I have always done what I wanted to do. I've been a professional actress, model, real estate agent, massage therapist, social worker, body piercer and more. Right now I put on writers' events and critique work for AWers full time.

Hm, I don't know about the growing up part, but I wanted to be a writer since I was 8-years-old. I think it worked out fairly well.

I was going to be a railroad conductor when I was like 5.

Then a paleontologist

Then a herpetologist.


By college I had no idea what the hell I would be, so for a semester I was in pre-psych, then a year in pre-vet. Then I went to grad school to be a toxicologist, only I ended up in a cancer/cell signaling lab instead. I am now in a biotech, so maybe I didn't stray TOO far; most of my stuff was in biology.

Never considered writing until late grad school, so if I switched to that full time, I would very much NOT be doing what I always imagined.

So, in the end, I figured out I could be whatever I wanted...by way of pen, paper, Webster's Dictionary, and lots of white out (no computers back then peeps).

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I remember those days with nostalgia (and I'm not even that old).
I had a battered thesaurus, and a copy of Writer's Market (1988 edition).
I sometimes skimped on groceries in order to buy ink ribbon for my electric typewriter. When I had two or three ribbons in reserve, I felt rich.
I remember the thrill of finishing a short story and running down to the library xerox machine to make copies to send to 'zines.
The first three stories I published were long before I ever owned a computer.

I always wanted to be a writer, but I pictured myself writing long opinion pieces or long-form journalism and being extremely well paid. Heh. Turns out I became a corporate hack who writes computer manuals, legal advice, and corporate policies that people read only under duress!

But my sister, now she became exactly what she wanted to be. She wanted to be a specific type of artist and work for a specific company at the top of the industry. And she did! You know what's funny? She kinda dislikes it. The politics are horrid, she's surrounded by egotists and wannabes, ad yuck. She's got a resume to kill for, industry-wide respect and fame, and she's eagerly plotting her escape to the lower-paying freelance market.

When I was a little girl, despite my physical disability, I wanted to become a singer when I grew up, a balladeer, because I couldn't dance. I remember singing my lungs out every afternoon in the living room of my house every day when I came home from school and finished my homework, either that or listening to music. Loud. When I was little I could sing the phone book, and I know this because I sang in a public place when I was about 6 and everyone was screaming for more, but I guess as I grew up, my voice kinda faded, I don't know, I guess my vocal cords got damaged or something; thus I never lost my ability to talk, but I did lose my ability to sing.


Realizing that was beyond impossible, when I was sixteen, after writing several short stories for fun, after doing my homework, because I was bored and there was nothing good on TV or something, I started writing my first (unfinished) novel, and it was in, yep, Spanish. Then I wrote another one in English. I could never finish either of them because I had to take care of my schoolwork and my homework, so it wasn't until I turned nineteen that I was able to write full time, after undergoing a second procedure to correct cleft feet, the first being in my left foot and the second being in my right foot, two months later. From nineteen till twenty one I was never able to finish a novel, but at twenty one I finished my first, and although it was almost 300k words in length (I had no idea about word-count rules) and 565 pages long, single spaced, it was a great experience, and from then on, I had no trouble finishing a book. Only depression got in the way over the years, but I am always able to pull through.


So that's my story. Ok, back to my writing.

I've always wanted to be a writer. I wrote my first piece of fiction when I was in kindergarten. It was a fifteen-page "masterpiece" starring my favorite cartoon characters. I think my mom still has it tucked away in a drawer.

I wanted to be a Doctor, then it turned out I was crap at science.

Never thought about writing until I was 16. I was good at English at school, and thought I'd give it ago.

Now I want to work as a Heritage or Tourism manager. My dream job would be on one of the Roman sites on Hadrian's Wall.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a news reporter--like Barbara Walters. And then I realized I hated being in front of the camera.

I've always wanted to be a writer, too. And I think I'm heading in the right direction for that one.