I have always loved reading books, so I have often contemplated becoming a full-time writer, as something I would like to do with my life – it is one of the few Career ideas I have contemplated over the years that has frequently been there. As far as Careers go, however, it has always looked liked something that will be a challenging role to take on – indeed, looking into other peoples experiences of it as always been that it’s difficult to get started. However, almost every successful author will tell you they love it. However, as life gets on, I always seemed to start other New careers which seemed like they would be more secure. So actually becoming an author never really materialised, although it was something I did consider, and I did keep writing sometimes in my free time. Now, however, it is something I wish to seriously consider, and there are a number of reasons why.
Firstly, I still haven’t actually come across any other Careers that I would really like to do all of the time. My present job, working in a call centre, is extremely repetitive, and at times fairly stressful – and recently I’ve been spending a lot of time wondering why I’m still there. I have been trying to choose other Career ideas, but nothing truly interests me the way books do. So I’ve decided – no more New careers for me, I am going to focus on attaining my childhood dream, and these are the steps I am going to follow in order to accomplish that goal.
Firstly – research, and plenty of it, too. I started recently with a journey to one of my favourite shops – Waterstones – and spent a good hour looking through all the children’s books. I took in all the artwork, the different stories, the different styles, and just took in as much information as I could about the books that are offered. I paid special attention to those which had won awards, as I would assume these books are the cream of the crop. I gathered as much stimulation as feasible, and then had to leave for fear of buying anything. I then went to my local library, where I borrowed out some books for additional reference.
Next, I have to draw, draw, and draw lots more. I aim to do my own illustrations, and the more I do, the better I’ll get, and so the better chance I have. I do think I’m quite good, but much of what is on offer out there is extremely high standard, so I know I’ll really have to try hard to get up to scratch. I am putting my writing ability as a second priority to that, as I am already pretty confident that I can write quite well.
So this is my plan, to help get me the career I have always aimed for. If (or when, positive thinking!) I succeed, I want to be an inspiration to others who are stuck in a dead end job, with dreams to follow.