Having recently graduated from university, I’ve entered the driving seat of my future. However, how am I supposed to start the ignition, when sign posts towards success appear obscured? Maybe I should ignore the road signs, pinpointing career pathways, instead maintaining an open-mind, as I navigate the journey of adulthood.
Let’s start the engine together.
Choosing a career of creativity, I feel I must settle for stability.
Regular, consistent income. Pension schemes. Routine. Reliability.
Every word I write reforms into question marks:
‘What if I’m a terrible writer?’
‘What if readers don’t connect with my work?’
‘What if my brain runs dry of ideas?’
The uncertainty of a fledgling writing career is incredibly daunting. Creative block, a looming nightmare. Comparably, it’s as though you are starving hungry, yet unable to eat even one bite. The frustration of longing to write, whilst being starved of inspiration. Rather than words, I’m fed on doubt: questioning my writing ability, anxious my ideas will remain absent.
During drought periods, read, reflect and renew; reading others’ work, provokes inspiration. In times of reflection, I remind myself of past publications, printed features, in addition to creating my own magazine. Revisiting past achievements helps to ground me, reminders of my capabilities. Reflecting can also enable growth, in addition to improvement. For example, avoiding over sharing, in an attempt to build reader rapport. Resultantly, feeling empowered to renew my craft, learning from the trail and error of an early journalistic career.
Perceiving my writing, correlating with seasons, visually represents my creative cycle. By illustration, writers experience times of blooming: exciting opportunities, accepted pitches, brains blossoming with new ideas. Nevertheless, even periods of artistic vibrancy fall, like autumn leaves. Once fearing winter, ink running dry, keyboards disconnecting, ideas freezing before they begin to grow, I’m now learning to embrace ‘Writers’ Winter’ as a time of reading, reflection and renewal. My future remains misted, but so long as I continue aiming towards the light, fears of the unknown sink into the shadows.
Written by Lily Willows
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