What Writing Means to Me and a Plea for Help
When I was about ten or eleven years old, I wrote my very first fictional short story. It just popped into my head and I wrote it down. To this day, I can remember the storyline and how it felt to write it. I think it may have even been “published” in the school newspaper, but that wasn’t the point. I had to write it. I didn’t have a choice. And I loved it.
Later on in high school, I wrote a research paper on dragons. My parents worked at the University of Chicago and brought me to the library on campus so that I could find some of the more obscure information I needed that was difficult to find at a high school or even a community library. That one silly English assignment was the highlight of my entire four years and not simply because I got an A. I wrote it on Wordstar (yes, I am old) and I still have the disk even though I have no way of recovering the data.
In college, I wrote a paper for an Aviation Management class based on a Feasibility Study done when my municipality was considering purchasing and expanding our local private airport. My professor had returned it to me with the words “You write well. The only 100 I gave.” written across the top. Almost 20 years later, I still have a copy of it in my office.
Yet even with these tidbits of encouragement coupled with a deep love of writing, it wasn’t until recently that was able to put the fear behind me and actually write… and now I don’t ever want to stop.
The person who has helped me the most on my journey is Jim McGovern. If it weren’t for him and the amazing staff at Big World Network, I would not have had the courage to share my stories with you. That’s where the plea for help comes in. Big World Network’s Indigogo fundraising campaign has about 12 hours left and it hasn’t quite reached the halfway point to its goal of $5000. Please share this link: http://www.indiegogo.com/bwn and do what you can to help Jim reach his goal. Every little bit helps and they have some fantastic perks for your contribution.
It would mean a lot to me, because whenever I feel like that ten year old putting my imaginary worlds on paper while a cruel little voice buzzes in the back of my head insisting that I’m not good enough, all I have to do is remember that I was good enough for Jim and Big World Network. And through that, I have become part of a wonderful community of writers, readers, bloggers, publishers, and fans to which I would never have been exposed had I not taken that leap. Right now, the only way that I can think of to thank Jim for giving me back my childhood dream and the courage to make it a reality is to ask everyone I know to just give a little bit and share the link with their friends.
Please do it now – there’s not much time left – and the success of this fundraising campaign in your hands. All I can offer you is my gratitude for doing this for me. Well, that and more stories. Thank you!