I just want to say thank you. I related to this a lot. Not that I’ve ever been published, but in your journey. I always wanted to be a writer. I spent many years writing novels, most of them unfinished — though I did complete NaNoWriMo twice.
I am also studying journalism — I thought it was what I wanted, that it would be a way for me to tell stories, to make a career out of writing. To snap out of the dream and to do something realistic.
But journalism is not the kind of writing I want to do. As much as it is storytelling, I miss putting myself into my characters, my world, my pages.
So I focused on doing other things in my major — photography, video, but not writing — even though creative non-fiction was the closest I got to the writing I love.
Your post inspired me. I know how hard it is to get published. And it’s weird that in order for me to call myself a writer I feel like I need to published by a big publisher. You’re right — I’m a writer regardless.
In regards to journalism, I am against working for big news organizations and I know I want to do my own thing. But I never really thought about that in relation to my real writing. I never really thought about doing that on my own.
Thanks for the perspective.