The WMF Archives

By Dolly Chandler

"I am a writer." This is a short, simple, straight-forward statement, but one that has trouble rolling off my tongue. I've spent a lot of time writing, whether through writing assignments in school or press releases and newsletter copy for work, but I've never considered myself a real "writer." Oh, I've thought about it a lot though. I guess to me, a writer is someone who passionately pursues their craft everyday and turns that passion into a living. Well, I am embarrassed to say, but that just hasn't been me.

It didn't hit me until my second child was born and I was sitting at home, just me and my kiddos and was, well, kinda bored. I hadn't done anything in the creative realm (outside of making Frankenstein masks or decorating "potty charts"), for a long time and I had a craving to get out the computer and just write. I didn't write much, and I never completed anything, but it felt good! I've always enjoyed writing and thought to myself, "why don't I do this more often?" It was then that I began to look at writing not as a hypothetical, but as a realistic possibility.

I pulled out some of my old writing projects from the creative writing class I took in college years before, sat down on the floor and started reading. There was one particular piece that was "almost" published in the college literary journal. All I had to do was a few revisions and turn it in, but I just let it go. I never followed through with it, kinda blowing it off as no big deal. I could kick myself now for not seeing the project through and taking my writing more seriously then. So, at that moment, I decided I wasn't going to let another opportunity pass me by. I'm too old to look back now and say, "sure wish I had done that." It was now or never, I decided. Nothing like reality slapping you in the face for inspiration!

Although I have had a couple of articles published in a magazine, I still haven't made any huge writing accomplishments, but the difference is now I am actually trying. I write more frequently, entering contests or just writing whatever comes to mind. There are a few ideas that have been bouncing around my brain for a LONG time, and now I am actually flushing them out hoping to one day see them completed. I have come to the point where I can say to myself, "I am a writer," but I am looking forward to the day when someone asks, "What do you do?" and I can answer confidently out loud, "I am a writer."