So I felt as though I cheated earlier when I addressed one of my tasks today. I am supposed to write something and I posted a story about this awesome guy that I know. However I feel like I should share a little bit more about writing. It is one of those things that we grow up doing but since it was so intimately wrapped up in school, for a lot of us, we stop once school is out. So since my daughter Isana is writing a story about her day I figured I would write about the importance of writing.
I loved writing as a kid. I would write strories in spiral notebooks. When my parents bought our first electronic typewriter I would sneak it out of their room and stay up all night writing stories. I was a nerd even then. My stories were mostly about my favorite comic book characters. I would weave fantastical tales of my acquiring super powers and joining them on adventure after adventure. When my eyes moved from comics to girls I used to write letters to them, they would never read them however because I was too nervous. Whenever I had to speak at church, my mother would make me write out everything that I was going to say. It was years before I knew that you could pray without written notes. I began writing poetry in High School because I ran across the collected works of W. B. Yeats who is still my favorite poet. The Second Coming still echoes through my mind from time to time. When I started writing computer games they were all text based, story driven adventures.
Soon after high school I stopped writing though. I started working, started my first business, and life got crazy out of control. Dating, school, work, parties(???), and the occasional bout of sleep kept me from my hobby and it wasn't until I was married until I decided to pick the proverbial pen back up. It was the first 5 minute drill that I had assigned to my students. I asked them to write down where they expected to be in 5 years. They told me that they would do this "juvenile" assignment if I did the same. It was an excellent exercise for them and for me. After listening to them I shared my thoughts. One of the things I taught them in that lesson was that the more vividly you can paint a picture, whether on paper, canvas, blueprints, computer screens, circuit boards, or the minds of those around you the more successful you will be.
I leave all of you with the same message. I am a story teller by trade. No matter where I have worked, or what I was producing there was always a story involved. If you want to be successful in any endeavor you need to find your "Why" story. You need to make that story a vivid as you can. That way it will not only motiviate you, it will entice others to help you along the way.
Learn how to tell your story and you will go far.
Go Go Go