Unmasking the Invisible: How Writers Can Shatter Our Deepest Cultural Myths

THE RECKLESS WRITER

I remember tracking down the disinterested professor who was to be my advisor in my freshman year. He was supposed to help me with academic planning, but when I walked into his office, he acted like he’d forgotten we’d scheduled a meeting.

Adults often lecture young people about the importance of a first impression, but it goes both ways. Recognizing that he was disinclined to talk to me, I lost all interest in what he might have to say.

Forgoing any apology for his lack of preparedness, he looked at me sternly as if I was the one who had made a mistake. “What do you want to be?” he asked.

“A writer,” I replied, knowing full well it was an invitation for ridicule.

He snorted. “Can you comprehend the level of competition you’re going to face?”

“Competition is an opportunity to get better,” I replied.

He turned back to his papers as if I was being unreasonable. I walked away angry and resolved not to talk to him again. We were both right.

Keep your aspirations a secret

That meeting left me feeling annoyed for a few days. After that, I resolved to never again tell anyone I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t even take creative writing classes. Instead, I sent off short stories and articles as I studied more practical subjects.

The truth is that professor was both lazy and dishonest. If a student comes to you asking for advice on how to become a writer, there are a lot of things you can tell them.

Becoming a writer is not an absurd ambition. There are a lot of writing related jobs as I’ve discovered over the years.

I’ve worked as a journalist and an editor and a content writer, and even as a transcriber, although that job has pretty much been replaced by artificial intelligence these days.

Marketing is related to writing as is anything that requires a strong sense of…