When I grow up...

When I grow up I want to be a writer.  At the age of 47 most writers would say they had been writing since they were young.  I can't say that.  I hated to write.  I thought I had no talent.  I have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

When I couldn't sleep, someone suggested I make up a story.  I tried that.  It was like the Energizer Bunny.  It kept going and going and going.  Instead of putting me to sleep, it kept me awake.  On a whim, and because I needed sleep, I starting writing it down...typing it down.  I still didn't think I had any talent.

Then I went to school.  I finally got a doctor to diagnose me with ADD, and he prescribed Ritalin.  I could focus.  I could pay attention without hyper-focusing.  I decided I would try to get my degree (I graduated December 2006).  I found I have a talent for writing.  Could I write fiction?  I don't know.  I know I already started writing a book.  The talent I discovered I had for putting words on paper gave me the confidence to really try to get published, not just put words on paper so they were no longer on my mind.

I now have four books in the works, one which was recently completed.  While I was still writing it, I was looking at agents and publishers, but I knew I couldn't do anything until the first book was finished.  Now it is, and I am ready.

I can even say I have been published.  I have been writing for Associated Content online.  I don't earn much, but I am being paid to write for all the world to see.

I am ready to grow up and be a writer.