Just a Lark

I’ve always thought of myself as a writer of sorts. I remember making Choose Your Own Adventure fiction in the fourth and fifth grade in lieu of reports, which were presumably accepted because they were somehow still tangentially related to the topic assigned. I remember daydreaming of my own bizarre plots and stories all throughout high school like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes did, something that I’m amazed to this day didn’t negatively affect my grades any more than it did. And of course I remember applying and being accepted to my first creative writing course in college, where I learned how rewarding having your work enjoyed by others was. That was when I decided I wanted to be a writer.

But of course, I didn’t want to just write stories (though I would be quite happy doing that), I wanted to write interactive, visual stories. I wanted to combine my love of games (the career path I had already chosen to walk) with my love of writing. An unpublished author doesn’t stand much of a chance–even though I am technically published, but yeah, college press doesn’t count–so I didn’t really get a second glance when I did the Game Developers Conference career walk.

Since then, I’ve managed to fall into this job, and for that I am eternally grateful. I get to write professionally all the time, and while it’s not really the sort of writing I had wanted to do, I’m quite pleased with it nonetheless. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ve given up on writing fiction though.

Thanks to some advice from a colleague, I’ve decided to take my hobby a bit more seriously. I’ve dragged out a short story I wrote a couple years ago (as part of a series I’m still writing today) and polished it. Today, I finally submitted it for publication, and am now waiting on a response, something that takes eight or so weeks. Rejection is part of the business though, and while I understand that, I’m very confident in my work. Nonetheless, I’m prepared to send it elsewhere if necessary.

Here’s hoping it won’t be necessary!