Getting to know a person is a dance, weaving in the fluff of ordinary asks like, "what's your favorite color," or "what is your favorite ice cream?"
When a professional writer who needs to reclaim time to write for their clients decides to pair up with a fellow professional writer, they don't want to trust their brand's voice to a stranger. Writing can be very personal for professional writer.
Therefore, a question I'm most certain will be asked of me is "what inspired you to be a writer?"
I've shared my story once about what lead me to head off on an adventure to be a writer. This time, I want to dive a little more deeper. What's beyond the words that I shared. And how my dad gave me a gift that I can take with me forever.
Describing Dad
It's difficult to separate one's heart from one's mind when talking about a member of the family.
My earliest memories had been of Dad coming home from work. He worked long hours, sometimes coming after dinner or long after we went to sleep.
In a way, there was always a distance because of time. I had a stronger connection to my mom, but there was always a part of me that longed for a connection to my dad.
The trick is, when my dad was present, he looked for things to do. I have countless memories of when he roped the family together for those "this will just take 30 minutes" projects that actually lead to hours of work. As a kid, we had weekend adventures to our camp that we would take off Friday evening and get back home late Sunday night. When Dad was home, he wanted to make time count.
That urge to make time count carried to me and turned into a flame that one morning I came upon my Dad working on his laptop.
"What are you doing, Dad?"
"I'm writing a book."
To the mind of a 4th grader, seeing her dad do something that's not his usual job astonished me. It made perfect sense for me that if my dad could write a book, I could write one too.
Where Have I Gone Since That Fateful Day?
If you read my past post, you know how I started my journey as a writer. Yet I found that my dad was my Gandalf who "nudged me out of the door."
My wild journey has lead me to poetry, journalism, content writing, copywriting, and my great adventure to date: Waggish Writer, my writing business.
Never did I imagine myself a business owner. But I had my inspiration close to home, a legacy to take with me of someone very dear to me. Words are my connection to my dad.
My dad worked hard on his story, doing all the steps. We gathered around the table where he would read a chapter of his book. Each time the chapter ended, we were groan and whine for more of the story.
How he drew reactions with his words is what I aspire to be. He had a dream and decided to bring it to life with words. I want to be like him as a storyteller.
I would say my dream has evolved and grown since that time of writing a rip-off of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. But the day I made that choice is still close to my heart.
Until next time, have a wonderful life. <3
Erin