dreams

Some say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one -John Lennon

My mother left school at 14. So she didn’t have much of an education. But she was never without a book on the go, cracked open across the armrest of a sofa or waiting on her nightstand. It was my mother who, long before I started school, took me to get my first library card. Because of her, by the time I was seven, I knew what I wanted to do. What I was. My dream was to have my stories on the library shelves one day. Because I was a writer.

During my life, I’ve had many dreams, some achieved, some not. But the one constant was and is to be a published writer.

Some years ago, I attended a 2-day creative writing workshop at a local hotel. There were some very distinguished speakers, New York Times best-selling authors. One lunch time, I found myself lining up for food behind a household name, a writer so successful her books grace the library shelves in hardcover.

Careless of who heard her, Ms Hardcovers announced to her companion that almost no one in the banquet hall—people who’d paid good money to hear her speak—would ever be published (this was before e-publishing). In other words, we were wasting our time. I was shocked. Not because I didn’t realize that what she said was probably true, but because it was so dismissive of all the dreams in that room.

I know the chances are I may never be traditionally published. I know that achieving the sort of success Ms Hardcovers has requires a mixture of talent, perseverance and sheer bloody luck. Even JK Rowling was rejected many times, and not just for Harry Potter—her first Robert Galbraith novel was initially turned down with the advice that its author take a writing course.

But becoming a published writer isn’t like American Idol where there can only be one winner. And there are many kinds of success on the arc between newbie and New York Times best-seller. Our dreams and ideas of what constitutes success are different over time for each of us.

What I should have said to Ms Hardcovers was that she should tread gently as she was treading on our dreams. And no one has the right to do that.

No matter what your dreams are, never let anyone tread on them. Not even yourself.