I was going to be a writer
Sunday, May 10, 2009
by Lynne Swihart
Life
I was going to be a writer
I was always going to be a writer. My grandfather had his published short stories edited by Carl Sandburg. My Auntie Lynn, after whom I was named, was the first female copy editor at the Star Telegram. I started my Girl Scout troop newsletter, was editor of the McLean Cardinal Clarion and spent two years on the yearbook staff at Paschal High School.
I arrived at the University of Texas Arlington as a journalism major. And when I had enough credits under my belt to get a job on the Shorthorn staff, I was ready. Unfortunately, the only staff position available was in ad sales. So I took that and paid for my entire senior year of college writing and selling classified ads.
I graduated into a dismal economy and took the first job I could that was vaguely related. As a media buyer at Pier 1, I wrote insertion orders. And as my experience in media and production grew, my writing ambitions were pushed by the wayside. Sure, I wrote an occasional memorandum or media plan. And as an account manager, I wrote PowerPoints that sold strategies to clients. I decided I was really more of an editor.
But I haven't been a 'writer' in years and years. So when the B-Team Interactive Department said that a personal blog would be available on the new Website, I was petrified. The prospect of a blank page scares me, but I'm also a little bit excited by the prospect.
Maybe I'm going to be a writer, after all.
Tags: Culture