Was reading an essay by Sidney Sheldon and one thing struck me as interesting. He began writing scripts for movies and drama for the stage. Then he had an idea that wouldn't translate in these mediums. There was too much introspection, something that suits the suited word better than the spoken. This led me to think about the convoluted path I took. I'm sure many writers never sat down and said I'm going to be a novelist.
My path began in nurses' training and what they called the care study. On everyone of parts of our experiences at the hospital, we had to write a study of a patient and their experience with the disease. I began with the technical aspects and definitions, talking about the tests and their meaning. Then something in my head said this story isn't complete so I added a part about the person as a character in my study. I even visited patient's homes and talked to their family. The papers were always longer than my instructors wanted. They also told me I didn't have to turn every case study into a story. But they were true stories, I told them. They shook their heads and gave me a grade.
Next I began writing short stories and had a few purchased and published. Poetry took over and I had some of these published and was paid. One of my short stories came back with a comment from the editor. "This sounds like the synopsis for a novel." That's when my life took a turn I'll never regret.
How about you? Did you sit down and say I'm going to be a novelist or did you take a path different and learn and practice other skills before you became a story-teller?
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