LEARNING TO BE A WRITER

I was born with the confidence to tell stories on a stage, and the dream of being a writer. I followed my confidence, went where it led me, and kept the sputtering dream alive. My confidence took me to happy places. My dream, well, not so much.
My confidence earned me a reputation for being interesting, to thirty years of standing on stages, telling my personal stories to strangers, to relieve the boredom of the endless content we offer at business presentations.
My dream drove me to writing classes, one-day seminars and weekend retreats, where I read short pieces out loud to my classmates, and later published nothing. One of my teachers said, “Writers write.” But I only wrote in writing classes. All of my teachers said, “Writers read.” And I read every day, which makes me a reader, but not a writer.
My confidence led me to storyteller stages, where stories are told for the pleasure of listeners. Standing at the microphone I told other people’s stories. That was all I had. I was not a writer.
My dream opened up my ears and my wallet. It led me to sit in audience chairs, at events where storytellers tell their stories, laughing and crying and gasping for breath, worshipping weavers of personal stories, fuelled by intention, told without notes, and probably written down somewhere.
I told a story to a business audience, a personal story, told with intention, to help them connect with some difficult content. And when somebody asked me to write it down, instead of ignoring that simple request, I wrote it and shared it, though it wasn’t very good, not as good as it was when I told it.
So I retold that story and then I rewrote it, and then I retold it and then I rewrote it and then I retold it and then I rewrote it. And then I took it to a storyteller’s stage, where a storyteller heard it and said, “You are an amazing writer!” Next day I rewrote it, and sent it to a magazine, where they’ve promised to publish it—with minor revisions.
To my writing teachers I offer my thanks for all the support and encouragement you gave me, and also my promise which I know you would want, that though I will celebrate this long-awaited victory, I’m not going to quit my day job.