I know. Mother’s Day has come and gone. But I wanted to do a shout out regardless because for me, my mother has played an important role in my writing and my life.
All writers need support. The life of a writing can be a lonely and rough. Without support, it is easy to throw in the towel. For me, my support has always come from my mother.
I wrote my first story in first grade. It was about my dog, Bentley and I won an award for it. When I came home with my story, my mom was so proud of me that she took it to Kinko’s and had copies made so I could share it with other people (a.k.a my grandparents).
As I grew older, my mom continued to support everything I was interested in. She encouraged me to go to theater school (thankfully I decided against that) and later supported my decision to go to graduate school for archaeology. Even when I changed careers, then changed careers again, she continued to stand by me. And as I’ve fallen back into writing over the past couple of years, the support from my mom has never once dwindled. She believes that I can be one of the few writers that make it, and having her believe in me helps me to believe in myself. Knowing she will always be there, through my disappointments and successes helps me continue with my writing. While I could write without her support, knowing I have it makes it all the easier and it gives me something else to shoot for – making her proud (though I know she will always be proud regardless).
Is there someone who has been influential to your writing? Do you have a support group? Do you think writers are more successful who have a support group or a cheerleader, or do you think we are only as successful as our talent?
