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Andrea Torrey Balsara

IWSG: Overcoming Regrets in my Writing "Career"



The awesome co-hosts for the January 5 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Olga Godim, Sandra Cox, Sarah Foster, and Chemist Ken!


IWSG January Question: What's the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it?


I think the hardest thing for me in my “writing career” has been reconciling my joy in creating stories with the idea of a “career.”


When I was 6 years old, I remember holding a picture book in my hands. The illustrations were so beautiful that a feeling of intense yearning came over me and I thought, “If only I could make pictures like these when I grow up!” When I got older, I added writing to my list of things I loved to do.


Careers are sometimes about fun, but most often they are about goals, about income, about all sorts of things that have nothing to do with a 6-year-old’s yearning to draw and write.


As I had books published and got more commercial success, more and more I bought into the very western idea of art as yet another commodity to be bought and sold and of using the amount of income I made as my barometer for success.


Instead of creating from a place of deep knowing, and of joy, I became deeply frustrated. I felt like I was on a treadmill, screaming into the void to have people look at my art and read my books.


Finally, one day I’d had enough. I was ready to quit. With a broken heart, I asked myself, “What will I do now?” Without missing a beat, my inner 6-year-old said: “Make up stories and draw pictures!”


I have since quit my “career” of writing and illustrating and now have fun making up stories and drawing pictures.

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Guest
Jan 06, 2022

Sounds like you've found a better approach! Good luck going forward.


<a href="www.thewarriormuse.com">The Warrior Muse</a>

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andrea9103
Jan 10, 2022
Replying to

Thank you!

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Guest
Jan 06, 2022

You just needed to remember the joy of why you were doing it in the first place!

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andrea9103
Jan 10, 2022
Replying to

Hi Alex--I know; this web platform has some drawbacks. It makes it harder for people to comment. Thanks for commenting anyway!!

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