I Want To Be a Writer

I want to be a writer. I don't want to be a doctor or a pharmicist or a surgeon. I might want to be a scientist. But I really want to be a writer.

I want to write YA novels that wind up in my school library. I want to skype with a room full of students on the other side of the world. I want to make people laugh and cry. I want to make people think.
I've had some of my poetry published, and I have written two novels. Granted, they will never see the light of day, but at this point it's really the process that counts. I could do it. I could be a writer. I could go to college and get a degree in English and never look back. I could do it.

But my parents disagree. They tell me to be realistic. They tell me that I have an obligation to the world to be a scientist, to discover things. That's true, I suppose. I do kind of owe the world for everything it's done for me. But books are important, too. They shape our minds. They make you think, and change you. It's subtle. It's slow. But the change occurs. You go from Point L to Point M, and you aren't the same. Books are a catalyst for change, and I want to be part of that process.

I don't think that my mom understands that I genuinely LIKE staying up all night writing. That my characters mean something to me. That my poetry is my way of expressing myself. I don't think she understands how much I want to like my career of choice, how much I don't want to end up hating my job. I don't think she understands that I would give up financial security to pursue writing. I don't think she understands how important writing is to me.

I want to be a writer.