Fund A Writer's Debut
I have spent my life being a Jill of
all trades. I have written grants and been the manager of a retail
store. I've worked as an administrative assistant and I've sold
newspaper subscriptions over the phone while my toddler crawled
around my legs. I worked a single four-hour shift at an upscale Japanese
restaurant where I was trained by a person speaking Japanese (I don't
speak Japanese).
I've been on countless interviews, the
best being with a board of directors where I proposed the creation of
a children's librarian position for their small library and then
later went on to fill and fund the spot. And the worst being an
interview where a bed-ridden gentleman was looking for an "assistant"
and requested that I change his catheter during the interview.
Throughout my adult life, during times
of deprivation, I have found myself scanning classifieds with little
discrimination, being confident that I could somehow do whatever
became available. Night housekeeper at the local hotel? Of course!
Forklift operator at the cereal plant? No problem! Radiologist? As
long as I had access to a search engine, I'm sure I'd be fine! I
would fake it until I made it.
Throughout these years of insane
thinking the constancy has been writing, but somehow that never felt
like enough. It never felt valid. It felt like something I did in
between or on top of everything else. I couldn't be a real Writer
because I wasn't brooding enough or hadn't done heroin or hadn't
traveled to South America. I could never call myself a Writer
because somehow that felt...fraudulent.
But of course the interesting thing is
that all along the front I kept up - the one of manager or
administrative assistant or grant-writer "“ that front - was the
fraud. Somehow I had managed to trick myself into thinking I was
presenting myself as legitimate and valid when I was ignoring my
Actual Self.
I always had a secret sense that my
perspective could provide wisdom and insight for others. And so this
is my Debut. I have a story to tell and it is a story for others as
well as myself. My end goal is to seek publishing, but this
fundraising effort is about the time that comes before that. I
write, but I need to continue and I need financial support to do
that. I have three young children, I work freelance and I'm back in
school. My time and my money is sparing. Simply put, this is me
asking for financial support in order to do the job I've been
interviewing for my entire life. But even more than that, this is
about giving those who support me an opportunity to show their
support. This is about you having my back and demonstrating my
work's value for you.
My intent is to raise enough money to
be able to spend at least an hour a day writing. I will do this for
a year. Some of this writing will be on my personal blog which I
invite you to visit, and some will be done separately. When the year
is over, I plan to work on securing a publisher. Money donated will
be providing me with a stipend for my time.
You can find samples of my writing at
http://wheresarawrites.com/
I truly appreciate all donations. They
will all be acknowledged in the dedication page of my book.
Sara