The Beginning of A Journey

My path to becoming an author has been filled with plenty of twists and turns… And if you were to ask me why I started writing, I’d probably start by telling you about a random Tuesday in February of 2019.

At the time, I was at a business conference—bored and tired of listening to lecture after lecture—when I suddenly had a thought: what if I created an entire fantasy world?

So I did. And from that moment on, I started writing and worldbuilding nearly every single day.

But while boredom is technically why I started down the path of becoming an author, it’s hardly the only reason…

The Hidden Path

I recently ran into a girl who I used to know in middle/high school while at a coffee shop, and while we were catching up I happened to mention the fact that I never expected to become an author.

She shrugged and said, “Well, but we all knew you were going to become a writer though.”

And as soon as she said that, it was like something in my brain clicked.

It turns out, I’ve been on the path to becoming an author for far longer than I ever realized, and it all started when I was a little girl…

The Gift of Imagination

I’ve always loved stories, whether they were in book form, audio/visual form, or just a normal part of a conversation.

And despite the fact that I had an extremely vivid imagination, I also had a surprisingly logical mind. And even as young as three years old I could distinguish differences between reality and fantasy.

I was aware that monsters weren’t real, and any fear that I felt about the dark was irrational. I knew that painting rocks gold didn’t turn the rocks into real gold. And I understood perfectly that nothing fantastical from my fairy tales or movies was likely to occur in my everyday life.

And yet, I still loved to pretend.

I played with my friends out in the woods by the creek, or inside with dolls and stuffed animals.

We created stories with princesses, knights, dastardly villains, and terrifying beasts, but we also made stories about families fighting to survive in a cruel world, or orphans searching for a home.

A Young Storyteller

When I was around five or six, my dad gave me a gift that changed my life and deepened my love for storytelling.

It was, of course, an MP3 player.

This device opened up an entire world full of new possibilities. I could listen to songs and audiobooks like normal… But the player also had a recording function and plenty of memory storage.

I recorded story after story on that MP3 player. Some of my stories were retellings of my favorite fairy tales, while others were completely new and original.

Besides recording my stories digitally, I also enjoyed drawing comics in all of my composition notebooks. (To this day it’s impossible for me to flip through my childhood notebooks without seeing a “Super Kitty” or “Buddy the Unfortunate Stickman” comic.

My First Book Attempt

When I was around eight or nine, and I had access to our family computer, I attempted to write my first book—which was actually my way of coping with some of the bullying I was experiencing at the time.

I was also extremely into acting during this period, so I wrote a few skits and plays for the drama class that I was in.

I never did finish the book that I started writing (which is probably for the best), but looking back, I think that was the first time I ever wrote something with a theme deeper than good vs evil, or hero vs villain.

Reflections

I’ll go into more detail on the technical side of how I became a writer and the specific steps I took in a future article, but I wanted to take a moment to share some realizations I had about my journey to authorhood.

As I’ve shared throughout this article, stories have always been a huge part of my life. And even if I didn’t see it, other people did. 

I will admit, there was a brief moment in time—I think I was eleven—when I considered what it would be like to be an author, but I shut that idea down faster than any other profession I had ever considered before.

Younger me had so many ideas and desires for my life.

At first I wanted to be a zookeeper, then a ballerina, then a detective, a veterinarian, an archaeologist, a soccer player, playwright, a singer, movie star, scientist, model, event planner, ice cream shop owner, fashion designer, librarian, chocolatier, YouTuber, nanny, crime scene investigator, marine biologist, voice actor… And then finally, I decided that I wanted to be a writer.

I did a lot of research, picked up a quite a few hobbies, went on dozens of trips, and had a ton of interesting experiences during my search for a career path. 

And while it might seem as though I wasted the first fifteen years of my life on things that ultimately didn’t matter, I don’t think that way anymore… Not at all.

The Long Road VS The Short Path

What if I had always known that I was going to be a writer when I grew up?

Would I have bothered trying out ballet, or going to musical theater camp? Would I have played soccer for ten years? Sang in a choir? Or joined the robotics team at my homeschool group?

Maybe.

But I have a feeling that if I had already known I was going to be a writer from a young age, then I would have said no to a lot of these experiences, or I wouldn’t have given them my all because they “didn’t really matter” as far as my future was concerned.

Except, they do matter.

I don’t believe in accidents or coincidences.

All of the experiences, the research, and the hobbies—God used all of these things to get me to where I am now: a published, full-time author with more amazing adventures to come.

The interests, hopes, and desires for my future didn’t lead me astray, or pull me off my path to becoming a writer. Rather, they were exactly what I needed in order to push me in this direction—even if I didn’t realize it until right now.

Before You Go…

What about you? Looking back, what’s something you did or experienced that you thought was a waste, but ended up being exactly what you needed in the future?

Let me know down in the comments!

And if you haven’t yet, be sure to check out my Instagram and YouTube accounts for more writing content!