The False Myth of Origin
Growing up, I did not know I was going to be a writer. It wasn’t a particular passion I had, and while I did read fucking nonstop, that was less about some inherent appreciation for literature than a simple love of escapism. Sometimes my brain can be… a lot, and the ability to step outside of it was one I cultivated at an early age, be it by books, TV, movies, cartoons, or any other method I could access in the pre-internet dark days of content. I did write for school, and a few extras on occasion, usually getting good grades for content, less so for grammar or editing. Hey, at least I’m consistent.
I didn’t even start taking real swings at writing until college. There was a class freshman year that really poked into our process and the factors at play that stoked a few embers, and one my senior year where the professor was long out of shits to give, letting us write whatever we pleased. Getting to play around in those environments got me thinking it might be a worthwhile hobby, and a few years of practice later, when I discovered web-serials, they seemed like a fine fit for my occasional stories. From there, it goes to No More Ramen, followed by Super Powereds, and so on. No grand plan or design, only a series of small steps leading to a larger outcome.
I tell you all of that because there is a myth of origin around those of us who find success in a creative field. Even at my mid-list level, there’s no shortage of authors who will tell you this was their calling from the start, a passion they dedicated themselves too non-stop, and for some of them that’s probably the truth. But it’s definitely not all of us, and the longer I’m in this, the more harmful I think that sort of mythologizing can be.
It is perfectly okay to discover your passion later in life. It is fine to dedicate countless hours to a project that will probably never go anywhere. We like to imagine that when embarking on the project that will change everything and take the world by storm, there will be some sense of destiny or weight to the moment. Humans love a narrative, in fiction, in reality, it’s the way our brains default to processing stories, including our own. Big moments are supposed to feel heavy, have the score background shift, some indicator that this will shake it all up.
But… they don’t. Sure, sometimes the arrival moments might feel that way, getting your first acceptance letter or acclaim by another artist you respect can definitely cause some upbeat inner music shifts, however those come later. In the moment, there is no special magic, because there is nothing special about that project, any project, that will magically carry you to success. So much more of it comes down to the work that goes in after you start, the writing, editing, marketing, refining, and so on. We’ve gone into that in more depth already though, today is about the first moment of creation.
And I know, that lack of gravity when embarking on new enterprises can be discouraging. I can’t tell you how many creative friends I’ve known working on something and getting it almost ready to go, only to veer away at the last moment. Much of that has to do with the inherent fear of putting something you worked hard on into the world at large, especially in these online days, but it wasn’t the only factor. Many times, it was simply a matter of the person not being able to see a point in sharing their creation. They couldn’t conceive of a world where people would like it, especially not one where it was enjoyed enough to actually cause positive consequences. Not merely a fear of failure, this represents a lack of hope for the other side of the coin; believing that success or appreciation aren’t even possible.
This is part of why long-term readers will recall I am a big proponent of working on whatever project most captures your interest. Nobody really knows what will or won’t succeed, so you’re much better off rolling the dice with a project you enjoy the act of creating. It’s why several other writers and I formed Authors & Dragons, which this year added a Youtube channel and some game streaming. Do I expect that we’ll become the toast of Youtube and suddenly be swarming in new business options? No, I just like creating content with my friends, and this is a new venue for that. But if you’d asked me the same question when Super Powereds started, you’d have gotten a very similar answer.
There is no grand sense of magic when you set foot upon the “right” path, largely because there is no right path for you to begin with. If there’s something you want to do or try, assuming it doesn’t require safety instruction like sky-diving, then jump into it. You don’t have to share your early work by any means, I’ve referenced more than once that I’ve got some real clunkers hidden on the hard drive from my first efforts, but the act of doing is usually the best training you can get.
Get better, to the point where you feel comfortable sharing, and when you feel that prickle of doubt of whether it’s worth the potential disappointment to even try, remember that you’ll never know your biggest success beforehand. Life is still life, the odds are still the odds, but once you take the plunge you’re at least in the running.