I Am a Writer

I am a writer… and I’ve been a writer for at least 50+ years.

So, why the hesitancy about admitting this? And especially to the world?

Most probably, this is something I’ve struggled with for years… being a writer.

Writing is something famous authors do… you know… the photo of the man with horn-rimmed glasses pecking away at his typewriter… stripping out a sheet of paper from the roller… tossing it away, only to start again. But, by the time I knew his name, he was famous 🙂

Happily, even though I can relate to that… I began my career on an Underwood typewriter… you know… carbon paper, correction-tape (white-out), etc.

You had to be an accurate typist in those years, as well as good at spelling and grammar.

I’ve been toying with becoming a blogger for years… the last 10 years.

Why the late start?

I didn’t view myself as being a writer… or that I could be inspiring to anyone…

Call that humble? Or maybe just a lack of confidence…

Working a full-time job in a busy transportation office didn’t help much. But…

Working in a busy transportation office did contribute greatly to honing my writing skills.

So, what does this mean to you?

Perhaps nothing…

But are you a single parent?

Or a retiree?

Or do you have a desire to work out of your own home instead of going out and working for someone else?

So, perhaps sharing my writing skills with others can help you improve your own writing skills.

Then perhaps, you can think of ways to use your writing skill to further a career… or supplement your income… perhaps you’ll come to the realization that you, too, can write.

So, where to start?

There are some guidelines that help you (and me) to write either for self or profit. But as a retiree, I’m thinking about using my skills to help supplement my income. I like to write – it may even be fun 🙂

Interestingly, some of the guidelines I learned for classroom teaching and presenting can also be applied to good writing. What makes us stand out as different is our style and personality in our writing.

Learning to write effectively can be learned… and fun… and profitable… and fulfilling…

I actually started with a program that taught me how to use my (new at the time) Sony a6000 ILCE Mirrorless camera. Yes, like everyone else, I could put the setting on automatic… but I had never been instructed how to go full manual.

I will admit, it took me some time to get the hang of it… and learning to process my “RAW” photos into something beautiful through Adobe Lightroom was also a new challenge for me.

But I am a self-learner… a busy self-learner… and I like challenges…

Some choose to take a college course… I choose to learn online. And anyone can learn online.

There is a lot of free “how to” stuff out there on YouTube and (I know, I know), there’s always someone waiting to take your money to give you the same information…

I did choose to pay. And you may be asking “Why”?

I’m far from rich… perhaps not even “comfortable”, but I do believe in investing in myself. If I were to take a college course, I would have to pay. I would also have to adhere to a course schedule and drive to an actual building, park my car, and walk to a room with a teacher and other learners.

Jo Rasmussen, Author

I chose the online learning route…

There’s a whole passel of courses for all sorts of whatever you wish to learn out in internet-land… Some courses are really good, and of course some are pure garbage!

But I can only recommend what I have paid for and completed… and benefited from…

My chosen interest is photography and writing…

What is your chosen path of learning?

Please check out my Resource Page for programs I have participated in and highly recommend…

However, if you’d rather skip my Resource Page, the direct link where I learned about becoming a good writer is a program called the Barefoot Writer…

And I would love to hear from you what you are interested in learning – or courses you have also completed and benefited from…

Please feel free to leave a comment!