{"id":113,"date":"2019-05-31T15:20:50","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T15:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dadwithplaid.wordpress.com\/?p=81"},"modified":"2019-05-31T15:20:50","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T15:20:50","slug":"born-to-write","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/31\/born-to-write\/","title":{"rendered":"Born to Write"},"content":{"rendered":"

To many people you’ll always have a role, a title, and an attached expectation.\u00a0 Amy the Accountant, Sam the Salesman, Mike the Mailman, etc.\u00a0 I have my own: Wes the IT\/Tech guy.\u00a0 You probably have one that people have associated with you.
\nThe thing is, people have dreams.\u00a0 Not only do people have dreams, each one of them was born to do something, whether they have realized it or not.\u00a0 Some people discover what they were born to do later on in life than others, but even at that stage the dreams are still vivid and full of life.
\nPeople expect you to do what you’ve always done, and they expect you to be what you’ve always been.\u00a0 At least as they’ve known you.\u00a0 The problem is, people are ever changing and this expectation is not only unrealistic, it becomes ridiculous when you consider the potential that each one of us has.
\nI’ve wanted to write for over ten years now, and in the beginning a great number of people were supportive because I was young and my career path wasn’t set in stone yet.\u00a0 Writing for me wasn’t realistic at the time because there wasn’t much money to be had and conventional wisdom says that you should always choose safety over risk.\u00a0 However, that dream to write never went away and for years that vision only lay dormant, waiting for an opportunity to rise.
\nI’ve done computer work for nearly twelve years now.\u00a0 In the meantime, I started an SEC Football podcast just for fun with two great friends\/family members and honestly it has been a blast to do the show with them.\u00a0 Even so, expectations of people who already knew me were a factor and some questioned it.\u00a0 Some still look at me funny when I say I do an SEC Football podcast.\u00a0 The funny (in an awesome way) thing is, many people who I’ve never met have become regular listeners of the show, so that’s pretty cool.
\nA couple of years ago the vision of writing presented itself clearly once again when I finally sat down at my laptop and began writing what has become known as “The Heart of the Machine”, an action\/adventure story set in a not-so-distant dystopian future.\u00a0 I poured by heart and soul into this book and I absolutely love the message it conveys.\u00a0 It is slated to be released late this summer!
\nBut before we get to that, now we come to my first officially published work, “The Land of Mountaindom”.\u00a0 I had written a playful poem many years ago in an effort to create a fun story that was silly in nature, yet captivating.\u00a0 I was pleased with the words I had written, but all good children’s stories need a good illustrator.\u00a0 Enter Victoria Hawkins.\u00a0 She is one of the most gifted artists I have met and her skill at translating the imagery of my story into actual sketches was truly amazing.\u00a0 Everything came together and my first work was officially published.\u00a0 I was (and still am) incredibly excited about it and am looking forward to it continuing to bring enjoyment to others.\u00a0 And yet, people look at me funny when I say I’m an author.\u00a0 They look at me and say things like “Oh that’s cool”, but most of them don’t seem to take it seriously.\u00a0 You can tell they think it’s just one of those things that’s kinda cool but will subside after some time.\u00a0 Like\u00a0That’s nice, but you’re not REALLY a writer<\/em>.\u00a0 I wonder if the acquaintances, friends, and family of Tolkien, Lewis, Verne, and so many others had the same attitude towards them?
\nThe real honest truth is I’ve never been so certain of anything else related to what I want to do with my life.\u00a0 No, I’m not throwing caution to the wind and quitting my day job to seek a life of wandering while writing the next novel.\u00a0 But when I write, I feel like I am doing exactly what I was made to do.\u00a0 To use words to positively impact people.\u00a0 To convey powerful emotions to people in the form of words on a page.\u00a0 To literally change lives.\u00a0 That’s what I want to do.\u00a0 That’s what I was meant to do.\u00a0 Honestly it doesn’t matter what people say about whether it’s a “good idea” to do it or not.\u00a0 It’s never been about what people think (although people being supportive is always a nice thing).\u00a0 At the end of the day, if I’m doing what I know I’m called to do and what the right thing is for me to do, then I feel good about the trajectory my path is on.
\nEach one of you also has something that you were born to do.\u00a0 Maybe you haven’t found it out yet, maybe you know but you haven’t done anything about it.\u00a0 What are you waiting for?\u00a0 Most of the people who have projected expectations about you…you won’t care what they think in a few years (if you even care now).\u00a0 Don’t let the fear of others keep you tied to a ship that is sailing in the wrong direction.\u00a0 Find your passion and begin moving in that direction, no matter how small the steps are.\u00a0 “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing” – Walt Disney
\nGet started!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To many people you’ll always have a role, a title, and an attached expectation.\u00a0 Amy the Accountant, Sam the Salesman, Mike the Mailman, etc.\u00a0 I have my own: Wes the IT\/Tech guy.\u00a0 You probably have one that people have associated with you. The thing is, people have dreams.\u00a0 Not only do people have dreams, each…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wesleymillerbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}