Why chase this dream of becoming an author?
When I started on this journey, I had a dream, perfectly expressed by Flynn Rider in the criminally underrated movie, Tangled.
Just much less touchy feely
They mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny
On an island that I own
Tanned and rested and alone
Surrounded by enormous piles of money
While it’s true that writing has always been a part of my life, like any skill, it requires a sacrifice of time, effort and money to get to a professional level. The “writer’s life” you see on TV shows and in movies motivated me in those early days. Those fictional writers lived a life of financial security and seemed to have plenty of free time on their hands. They often used this time to solve murder mysteries, oddly enough.
Fame never interested me, but money, oh yeah. I dreamed of quitting my job and having more time to spend with my kids.
But what I sought was mostly a Hollywood fabrication. There are more lottery winners than writers who enjoy that kind of life. As agent Dan Balow says, “the substantial majority [of authors] have always needed to keep their day job or have an alternate source of income to continue writing.”
I needed a better reason to pursue this, even if it never became my full-time gig. It would take me years, but I found that reason. Author and speaker, Allen Arnold, stated my new dream, just as perfectly as Flynn had stated my first dream.
That seems so much better. But how does it apply in a practical sense?
It means I write for people who are just like me. They struggle with feeling like they are hopeless, worthless, or useless. They believe they will never measure up and never be enough.
Through my stories, I seek to tear down every barrier, and smash every warped philosophy that stands between us and finding the truth that leads to love, acceptance, worth, value, meaning, and purpose that we all so desperately want and need.
But chaos fights back when you go after that kind of freedom. I had to face a battle with Pinocchio.
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