Career Day at Mill Creek Middle School

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of being invited to Mill Creek Middle School’s Sixth Annual Career Day.  This is the second time I have been fortunate enough to be invited to a school to speak with students and I always find it rewarding to have a chance to meet with the next generation of potential writers.

I met many students in the 7th grade that were very interested in knowing what it is like to be a writer and I hope I was able to share a small part of that with them.  As I said on the 14th, there are many different fields that require writers.  While my passion has always been for writing novels, starting back when I was moving from middle school into high school, there are many different opportunities out there.  You might find a passion for journalism (be it newspaper, magazine, television, online, …) or technical writing (such as creating product manuals, training documents, or company literature) as well as any number of other specializations.

While some fields have more challenges than others (as well as different levels and constancy of income) they are all needed and can be very rewarding.  In some of my day jobs, I have created text books for training, developed web sites for departments to provide information to others, and created many technical documents.

One of the best parts of writing is having that sense of accomplishment when you are done.  Once that last word is placed on that last page, you have something tangible; something that can be held, and hopefully, something that others will appreciate as much as you do.

Writing is not always easy and there are parts of it that can sometimes seem to be a job, but if it is your passion, do not let anyone talk you out of it or discourage you from pursuing your dream.  It is a dream worth the pursuit and it can be incredibly rewarding.