The following post is brought to us by the talented Rebecca Laffar-Smith, from Writer’s Round About. I’m quite honored to have her make a guest appearance on the cyber highway! I’ve followed Rebecca’s writings and freelance life since she started her blog on Blogger. She’s since moved it to its current self-hosted WordPress home with a fantabulous new design. Her posts only get better, her words more inspiring. I’m sure you’ll relate to her writing journey she’s sharing with us today, so give her a big ole welcome and don’t be shy!

Rebecca’s Long Road to Writing

By

Rebecca Laffar-Smith

Writing began as a dream when I was very young. I remember writing a story when I was six, and I knew that I was destined to do this, forever. When the other kids were wishing to be firemen, I was a writer. They grew to want to be doctors, or lawyers, but I was a writer.

I was a writer through grade school. I was a writer through high school. In fact, I was so much a writer I didn’t think I needed school at all.

In ninth grade I shared my latest and greatest story with my English teacher. She took the story but I never heard her feedback in regards to it. What I did hear, loud and clear, was the big fat F on my report card a short time later. English had been my favorite subject. I was committed, dedicated, and worked hard to absorb all I could.

When I failed English that year I felt shattered. I questioned my dream. I wondered if I were fooling myself. Was I a writer? I couldn’t even pass high school English. How could I expect myself to build a career with language.

Even failing that class couldn’t stop me from putting words on the page. I wrote onward, dropped out of school, lost my interest in education and turned my back on the world. Words were my hermitage and eventually, words were my salvation.

Years later, having written in a closet for a handful of years I came into the online world. I’d no longer been chasing the dream of a career in writing. I’d slipped into motherhood, a wife, a friend. The passion for language never faded and as I grew online the words sprung forth. Creation sprung forth and my chase began again in earnest.

It’s been a hard road already. Every writer faces the bumps along their route. We each come to the page with our own fears and judgment. We each bring our past before our eyes when we write. We push away the doubting ‘others’, all those who thought us foolish, failed us without giving us a chance, or laughed at our attempts.

As writers we push onward because the words never fade. They’ll sit in the background while you ignore them but they’ll be there, waiting for you to take up your pen or take to the keyboard.

What was your long road to writing?

Rebecca Laffar-Smith is a freelance writer, editor, and web tech. Her blog, The Writer’s Round-About discusses various aspects of online freelance business. Subscribe to The Writer’s Round-About via RSS or email!

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