Monday, April 2, 2012

A-Z Challenge today is B



B is for believe. Believe in yourself. I was twelve when a teacher told me I had a talent for words and someday he'd see me in print. That was a long time ago, but I believed. I wrote poetry first. It was a way to express myself when I couldn't find my voice to do it. It was not deep, it was just me. I took as many writing classes as were offered in high school, with little encouragement from the teachers.

I went to college and majored in English, language and literature. I also took the journalism and broadcast writing classes. While the instructors told me I had talent, they could not help me develop it. So, I bought books on writing. I filled hundreds and hundreds of notebooks with my writing.

I went on to become a teacher, but not the English teacher I'd expected to be. I became a special education teacher where I learned more about writing in my Masters classes than any undergrad class had ever taught me. I practiced and practiced. I became better at the craft.

I shared my love of writing with my students. I even shared some of my writing with them. It was 2004 before I would see my work actually published. I was self-published, but I was published. From that book of poetry, I have gone on to publish a book for tweens and teens and three mystery novels. My fourth mystery was picked up by a small press. By small I mean fledgling, but someone else thought my writing was worthwhile.

If you believe, others will eventually believe, too. So keep believing in yourself.

TTFN

8 comments:

  1. How inspiring! I'm diving in to the deep end with my costuming journal and doing videos (a first) and your post really spoke to me about keeping going and working towards a dream. Thanks so much!


    Aurora Celeste
    yasff.blogspot.com
    dramaticthreads.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I started reading your post I thought that I had actually clicked my blog. I wrote about believing today too. I am glad you believed and kept working towards your dream of being published. CONGRATS!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Another thing.. our background is the same too! Ha!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really admire you for being a special education teacher! I agree that it's so important to believe in yourself! Julie

    ReplyDelete
  5. I thank you all for your humbling comments. I'm glad you found them worth reading.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I feel as if I just got a pep talk! Thank you for this post. Someday maybe I will finish my book!
    Everyone says, "It takes a special person to be a special education teacher." They're right. My daughter teaches ECDD (pre-school special ed).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for the pep talk!!! Believe me I am working progress! Im so grateful to have you as a friend!! love you

    ReplyDelete

October Already

 I'm not sure where the time has flown. June was an exiting month. July was a mess. I had a change of medication which caused me to gain...