i'd like to thank...

I went to a writing seminar today. I've been to a few before and they've been helpful - don't get me wrong - but this one was really good. I think I took about ten pages of notes... only to discover there was a handout... but that's neither here nor there.

I'm not the type of person to take myself seriously... or fully commit to pretty much anything... but after about two years, I think I'm finally ready to say that I'm serious about writing. Yeah, I know. This coming from someone who's already sent out query letters to agents and written, like, fifty drafts of the same novel. Now I'm serious? Well... yeah, I guess.

So what brought this about?

The guest speaker at the workshop, Lynda Simmons, said that if you really want to be a writer, there comes a point where you have to take yourself seriously and - more importantly - you need to surround yourself with a few people that also take you, the writer, seriously.

Well, when she said that, something clicked. You see, two days ago I walked into my bedroom to find a package from amazon.ca (the website is amazon.ca... for those of you that watched Scott Pilgrim, you'll get the reference - at least, you'd better!) and a clipping from a newspaper sitting on my bed. The article spoke of a seminar... you guessed it! The one I just attended today. My mom had seen it in the paper and put it out on my bed, thinking I may find the seminar useful since I'm an aspiring writer.

When I thought about that as Lynda was saying I need to be around people that take me seriously, I realized - I already am. And apparently, that's something that can often be a struggle to find. So maybe it's about time I take this seriously. Maybe it's time I really own up to being a writer. Maybe it's time I don't just say something like, "Well I sorta kinda hope to be doing something that sorta kinda has to do with writing one day when I sorta kinda grow up..." when people ask me what I plan on doing with my English degree.

I want to write novels and short stories. And yeah, I also want to tell stories as an actor, but who knows? Maybe that dream will stay on the back burner for a little longer, because right now, writing is what I'm most passionate about.

So, I'll finish my rewrites of Broken Silence and send it off to a new set of agents in the States (because, side note - Lynda also said that a lot of Canadian agents and publishers look for stuff that's distinctly Canadian and my stuff is anything but)... and I'll see where things go from there.

All that said, I'd like to thank my mom. I know she never really liked the idea of me as an actor (Hollywood has a way of bringing people down and she always worried about all the trouble I'd find for myself if I made it there), but she's definitely embraced this new development and I really appreciate her support. As a whole, my family is pretty great about it, so I know I'm one of the lucky ones.

Anyway, that's all for now... I'm gonna boogie.

Keep it real!