• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sudden Write Turn Freelance Writing

Word magic

  • About Me
  • Work With Me
  • Workshopping
  • Portfolio
    • Blogging
    • Business Communication
    • Literary Journalism
    • Website Content
    • Workshopping
    • Memory Lane
  • My Blog
  • Contact
  • About Me
  • Work With Me
  • Workshopping
  • Portfolio
    • Blogging
    • Business Communication
    • Literary Journalism
    • Website Content
    • Workshopping
    • Memory Lane
  • My Blog
  • Contact

Word Stampede

November 30, 2010 //  by Terra Osterling

A journey usually has a simple beginning, just as a transformation must begin with our ordinary selves.  I asked my mother not long ago,

What did I like to do when I was a little kid?

The answer was no surprise; I would entertain myself with reading, making crafts or writing little stories.   I have had the mark of a writer, the tell-tale bump on my right middle finger, for as long as I can remember.  Elementary school book reports were nearly a treat and high school term papers were so second nature that I recollect having dictated whole paragraphs to a certain sibling who shall remain nameless.  As a History major/English minor in College, there was no shortage of writing assignments and if that was not enough, I joined the campus newspaper.  Since I could hold a pencil, I wrote daily until I was handed a college degree.  And then I had to go to work.

Surveying the landscape of the half dozen or so jobs from the past 15 years, at every one I incorporated writing even if it was not part of my “job description.”  At one of my first post-college jobs, my role was to cold-call marketing managers to sell an artificial intelligence program that would analyze focus group scripts (really).  After a few months of work that was tedious at best, I decided to summarize the process, analyzing the tactics and statistics in a way that I thought might be useful to the company.  This is a pattern that would repeat at other jobs – perform the work, grow weary at some subconscious creative level and assign myself a writing task.  I would be temporarily buoyed and feel better about the job; 20/20 hindsight now reveals that it was simply the writing that lifted me.

In the final weeks of my college career, I belatedly took a creative writing class, strictly for fun.  The credits were tallied, but to say that I didn’t need this class would be wrong.   Completing a 35 page research paper holds a certain satisfaction, but having words pour out of you from a place you never knew existed is a potent experience. When famous writers state that the characters speak to them and the books often “write themselves,” I know what they mean.  I had a brief taste.

I have done much thinking and reading recently about recognizing my unique strengths, living my passion, knowing what I am meant to do and understanding it all as an identity.  Writing is not simply something I am good at, writing is an imperative. The clearest statement I can make about my life is that I am a writer.

As I recently re-read a short story that I wrote for that creative writing class, I was a little surprised and genuinely impressed by that long ago writer.  This story has hibernated long enough, as have I.  The next step on my journey to change my life is to submit it for publication.  I know that the odds are against me, but what do I have to lose?  I have been editing and before the end of the year (a mere four weeks away) I plan to package it up and send it out.  And we’ll see if it comes back a butterfly.

Share

Category: Experiences, How I got "here"

Previous Post: « What do I want to be when I grow up?
Next Post: Making Concessions »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robin

    December 1, 2010 at 5:56 AM

    You go girl!!

  2. morninglightmama

    November 30, 2010 at 10:09 PM

    Ah, Term III… always fun stuff!! I love this idea, and I for one can’t wait to see the acceptance letter posted here.

    🙂

Trackbacks

  1. I Submit! « Sudden.Write.Turn. says:
    January 2, 2011 at 9:09 PM

    […] comfortable, but I know should be cleared out.  The story I wrote so long ago and told you about here has had a […]

Primary Sidebar

Stories are best told over snacks or beverages.

Let’s “Zoom” to find out what it might be like to work together. At the very least, we can swap a few good stories.
CONTACT ME

LEARN ABOUT WORKSHOPPING

Subscribe

Occasional blog posts and monthly newsletters delivered to your inbox!

My Recent Posts

Decade

February 25, 2022 By //  by Terra Osterling

Playground Revolution

October 18, 2021 By //  by Terra Osterling

“Though she be but little, she is fierce.”

October 5, 2021 By //  by Terra Osterling

Contact

585.314.8555
terra@suddenwriteturn.com

Sudden Write Turn Freelance Writing

Footer

Subscribe

Occasional blog posts and monthly newsletters delivered to your inbox!

Links

About Me
Work With Me
Award Winning Essay
My Blog
Contact

Portfolio

Blogging
Business Communication
Literary Journalism
Website Content
Workshopping

Privacy Policy
Sudden Write Turn Freelance Writing

Search

Copyright © 2023 Sudden Write Turn Freelance Writing · All Rights Reserved · Site by TechCreative, LLC

Scroll Up