If I Wasn't a Writer . . . .
I am taking Demon Baby to the circus today. He wants to fight the lions, he says.
I can remember seeing Ringling Brothers at Madison Square Garden with my father. He was never home when I was growing up, so outings like that were beyond special. I never got over loving the circus. And zoos.
And for a brief time, I wanted to BE in the circus. I didn't think I could do the trapeeze. I knew the tightrope was out. I thought, perhaps, riding the elephant might be my speed. Or . . . taming lions.
Along the way to becoming a writer, I wanted to be a lion tamer, then a hairstylist, a psychiatrist . . . a journalist.
I've waited tables, slung drinks behind a bar, and worked as a blackjack dealer. I've been an editor for years and years. I even had a short stint in a bank (worst job ever!).
But always, my true North was writing.
So today, I'll take Demon Baby. We'll eat some peanuts, watch the lions. And I am sure by the end he will tell me that's what he wants to be when he grows up.
And I'll be grateful this is what I am, now that I am not-quite-grown-up.
And maybe . . . maybe before my journey is through, I'll be something else. I'd love to get a Ph.D. in comparative religion. Maybe I'll teach. Maybe I'll fulfill my dream of starting a camp for disadvantaged children and have a place they can come every summer to ride horses and swim and BE a kid.
If I wasn't a writer, I no longer think I'd be a lion tamer. But I might do other things someday.
So . . .
What did you want to be when you grew up? And if you weren't a writer . . . .?
I can remember seeing Ringling Brothers at Madison Square Garden with my father. He was never home when I was growing up, so outings like that were beyond special. I never got over loving the circus. And zoos.
And for a brief time, I wanted to BE in the circus. I didn't think I could do the trapeeze. I knew the tightrope was out. I thought, perhaps, riding the elephant might be my speed. Or . . . taming lions.
Along the way to becoming a writer, I wanted to be a lion tamer, then a hairstylist, a psychiatrist . . . a journalist.
I've waited tables, slung drinks behind a bar, and worked as a blackjack dealer. I've been an editor for years and years. I even had a short stint in a bank (worst job ever!).
But always, my true North was writing.
So today, I'll take Demon Baby. We'll eat some peanuts, watch the lions. And I am sure by the end he will tell me that's what he wants to be when he grows up.
And I'll be grateful this is what I am, now that I am not-quite-grown-up.
And maybe . . . maybe before my journey is through, I'll be something else. I'd love to get a Ph.D. in comparative religion. Maybe I'll teach. Maybe I'll fulfill my dream of starting a camp for disadvantaged children and have a place they can come every summer to ride horses and swim and BE a kid.
If I wasn't a writer, I no longer think I'd be a lion tamer. But I might do other things someday.
So . . .
What did you want to be when you grew up? And if you weren't a writer . . . .?
Labels: authors' careers
posted by Erica Orloff at 7:49 AM
38 Comments:
Lion tamer, me too, LOL! Acamp sounds fun!
I used to dream ofa mansion filled with oodles ofckids. If they still had orphanages, that's what I'd do. I really wanted to be an astronaut but didn't have the eyes, then air force pilot. Somewhere in there, I wanted to be a gymnast or ballerina.
I can't think of anything I'd want to do that's not related to writing or music. Oh wait! I'd love to have a little chocolat cafe, and/or a bookstore. I could combine them!
Thanks to Trixie Beldon, Nancy Drew, and The Meg Mysteries, for a long time I wanted to be a detective. I wanted to be an actress too. Think that's where the writing kicked in long before I knew I needed to write, I always had these dramatic scenes playing out in my head.
On my way to NOT becoming a detective or an actress, I also waited tables, slung drinks and worked in a lab testing the gemination of flower seeds and bulbs. Yeah, every bit as exciting as it sounds. Just like watchin' grass grow.
If I grew up and decided not to write, I'd probably go back to school and get some sort of certification that would allow me to pick brains.
Or have a talk show. I think Canada needs its own Oprah. =)
I wanted to be a nun. I even used to wear half slips on my head. And then I wanted to be a singer, a B movie actress, a poet, and even a nurse like my mother. (I took pre-nursing courses after I left the Theater department.)
I'd settle for being a paid novelist. :)
Hi Spy:
After I read Jo's Boys, I wanted to run an orphanage too.
E
Lainey:
You most definitely need your own talk show!
E
Heather:
Though raised by an atheist, I went through a brief nun phase too.
E
Astronaut, but my eyes weren't strong enough to get me into a military cockpit (which was the only way to do it at the time). Now I patiently wait for the tourist season to open; I plan to buy a ticket to the moon.
Stephen:
Wave to me from space. I'll look for you through my telescope.
E
You need to get Demon Baby the books, If I Ran The Circus and If I Ran The Zoo. Those were my favorites as a kid, and I spent hours pouring over the pictures, imagining what it would be like.
Have fun!
Thanks, Michele. I will check out those books. Mostly he is focused on FIGHTING the lions and FIGHTING the bears. He is pretty into mayhem and violence, which is just perplexing to me. :-)
E
If I had allowed myself such daring thoughts, I would have wanted to be a writer when I grew up. But I knew that writers were hallowed, lucky, insanely talented people, so instead I wanted to be a journalist or an English teacher. While those two also take talent and a lot of skill, they seemed more attainable somehow. It took me until my second year of teaching to realize that writers were not these mystical people, and that maybe, just maybe, I could be one, too. So now that's what I'm heading toward. But at least I have a few backup careers, too. (I've also been a white water rafting guide, a copy editor, a librarian, an artist's assistant, a veterinary receptionist, and manager of an independent bookstore, among other things.)
Booklady:
All aweseome jobs to include in books--that's a great thing about having a varied life!
E
Easy one! What I became...a soldier. I toyed with being a doctor, in fact my high school classes were selected in preparation for going that direction, but my heart was never there. Always there was that other call.
I also always liked to write. So I got to be a soldier-writer.
My mother, Irish Catholic type that she is, tried to maneuver me into being a missionary priest...urgh!
Nice thing about being a writer is that nothing else is mutually exclusive...one can do many different things and still write.
Nice thing about being a writer is that nothing else is mutually exclusive...one can do many different things and still write.
Yes! And all our experiences, no matter how jumbled or apparently irrelevant, contribute to the clickety-clack.
First I wanted to be a nun, having just seen The Sound of Music, then an air hostess to fulfil my passion for travel - glad that never happened. Then I wanted to be a helicopter pilot to rise above the world.
I remember the first time i took my small son to the circus - such precious moments. I can imagine Demon baby as a lion tamer. Hold onto him tightly while there.
Suzanne
I was a weird kid - I wanted to be a lawyer, a judge actually. WEll I am a lawyer - but forget about the judgeship road. Too hard. Rather be a writer. My oldest has said she wants to be a dentist since she was 5. I know. No fun careers in my house!
And, Erica, you'd better believe some of my characters have and or will have many of those jobs! But then, I've seen a few other authors pull that stunt as well... ;-)
Gotta love baby Demon! I wanna grow up to be just like him. A wonderfully unique and creative character.
I wanted to be a writer and tell stories. Mom said I couldn't be a writer cause they make no money. Pick something else. I said I want to be an Artist. She said Artists make no money. Pick something else. So, I've been everything else and now I've come home to writing and painting.
I fell in love with drums at a very young age, and I still love them.
Before drums, I wanted to be a cowboy. I wanted a horse and a hat and a six-shooter...one of my favorite childhood memories is seeing Michael Landon (Little Joe Cartwright) perform at a rodeo.
I want to publish novels now, but I'd also like to direct my own movie some day.
Maybe a cowboy movie.
Great topic, actually.
For a long time I was a musician and music teacher, then went into science, but discovered I wanted to be a writer. Then I worked in science for 18 years and wrote and now I'm a fulltime writer.
It's great, but...
I started taking guitar lessons last June and occasionally I think, "Hmmm, songwriter, guitarist, guitar teacher.... could do worse."
Of course, most of my income from writing these days comes from writing business research and market reports. Maybe I'll shift in the future to novels... or travel ... or the music industry... or publishing (don't think I haven't considered becoming a publisher, I have; it's like the adage about if you want to make money as a gambler, own a casino; if you want to make money in writing, become a publisher)...
When I was a kid I wanted to be a writer, a dancer, an actress, a spy. All really outwardly glamourous things lol. It either had to be creative or involve espionage.
Writing and Dancing became the big things and then writing won more of my time and attention. Then a few years ago I started dancing again, this time instead of ballet or Jazz, I started taking Bellydance. I'd like to dance with a troupe in the next couple of years.
jlk:
Demon Baby is fascinated by fighting, violence, swords and soldiers. As a "mom pf peace" this is frightening, but I figure I have many more years to work on this. He may be a Buddhist monk yet.
:-)
E
stephen:
I do draw on all thge wackos in my life and all my strange and wonderous experiences. :-)
E
Suzanne:
He sat on my lap for three hours, and I kissed him most of the time. :-)
E
ello:
LOL!!! Nothing could be further in this house--so far, they aspire to be a violinist, a chef, a fashion designer, and Demon Ruler of the World.
E
Jude:
I actually have an entire documentary in my head and would like to apply to film school when Demon is in kindergarten.
E
Mark:
I actually think about finding some venture capitalists with a creative streak and starting a publishing house, too. :-)
E
Zoe:
Little know Erica Orloff fact.
I took dance lessons for about 15 years. I am an excellent tap dancer.
:-)
E
P.S. Still have my shoes!
Great post Erica. Let's see, I wanted to be an archaeologist, a dancer, a singer, and a journalist. My mom wouldn't let me take dance lessons. She was an actress in the local theater, and I would sneak in her closet and put her ballet slippers on. It was a religious experience. LOL. I have these high-arched feet, and often wonder if I was a dancer in a past life. Cool to think about.
"Demon Baby is fascinated by fighting, violence, swords and soldiers."
Ditto my son. It started with plastic swords and now at seventeen he has so many airsoft replica rifles it makes my head spin. He belongs to a club that fights mock battles out on the sand dunes and in the woods - a bit like paintball fighting. Yet a more well balanced, non-violent kid you couldn't find. He loves young kids and animals and has never had a confrontation with anyone. So, don't worry about your creative Demon Baby, though I understand that wish that they had a different hobby.LOL.
Suzanne
A doctor. I used to go around the playground in second grade with a medical kit (iodine and band aids), patching up kids who fell on the playground.
That was before my mom went into the wheelchair. I spent so much of my time in doctors' offices and hospitals between ages 9 and 18 that being a doctor got shoved off the list, replaced by actress and then writer.
Writing's great. You get to learn so much.
ladonna:
That's a book . . . a mother who danced but didn't want her daughter to dance . . .
E
Suzanne:
It's puzzling to me. But he is otherwise . . . um, so "creative" that I suppose I try not to worry too much.
E
Hi J.K.
I wanted to be a vet when I was a kid. I wonder if all animal lovers do at some point. Then someone pointed out I would be dealing with SICK animals. So I dropped the idea. So I could see how dealing with sickness and so on would push doctor right off the list.
E
Erica, maybe one day I'll write it...
Hehe Erica, I still have every dance recital outfit I ever wore.
And when I took up bellydancing, my husband commented that our bedroom was starting to look like a Bangladeshi brothel because the decor had taken on a distinctly middle eastern flair.
zoe:
LOL! I would love my house decorated like that.
E
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