Once upon a time I was a child, probably much like you were. I went to school, much like I'm guessing you did. Unlike you, however, I always wanted to write. I would do it whenever I got done with my work early in class. English was my favorite subject. I was one of the best writers in my class. I remember telling my teachers how I wanted so badly to become a writer one day. I thought it would be a great thing to be an author for a living. I was good at it and it was something I loved to do. I couldn't see any downsides to my plan.
However, my teachers all had a different opinion. They thought it would be best if I tried to think of logical things for a possible career later in life. We were apparently beyond the stage where people tell us that it's okay to want to be a princess or an astronaut; we were too old for that. I still loved to read and write, but after that my interest in English declined quite a bit. My English grades in middle school went through some speed bumps, but I picked them back up in high school. I managed to tell myself that even if I didn't want to make a living off of writing, I still wanted to keep writing. I no longer cared who read the things I wrote, because I was doing them for myself.
I guess what I'm trying to say with this blog post is: write because you want to, not because others want you to. Writing for school is different, that is something you have to do. However, what you do in your own time is up to you. Don't let anyone control how you use your creative energy. Just do what you love, and hopefully, you'll love it too.
However, my teachers all had a different opinion. They thought it would be best if I tried to think of logical things for a possible career later in life. We were apparently beyond the stage where people tell us that it's okay to want to be a princess or an astronaut; we were too old for that. I still loved to read and write, but after that my interest in English declined quite a bit. My English grades in middle school went through some speed bumps, but I picked them back up in high school. I managed to tell myself that even if I didn't want to make a living off of writing, I still wanted to keep writing. I no longer cared who read the things I wrote, because I was doing them for myself.
I guess what I'm trying to say with this blog post is: write because you want to, not because others want you to. Writing for school is different, that is something you have to do. However, what you do in your own time is up to you. Don't let anyone control how you use your creative energy. Just do what you love, and hopefully, you'll love it too.