#WordWeavers 2406.13 — If you weren’t a writer, what other creative avenues would you pursue?
Not a hypothetical. I know.
I burned out as an author in 2001 after my agent was uninterested in yet another project. With seven completed novels(†) in the inventory and no readers, I felt like a monk under a vow of silence cloistered in a monastery having a crisis of faith, unable to talk to anyone. I write to communicate what I think and what I feel. Unable to communicate, I quit.
Still needed to communicate, though.
In 1999, Nikon released an early digital camera, the Coolpix 950(††), and my brother-in-law let me take it on vacation. Suddenly, I could take photos and immediately know if I'd captured what I visualized or take it again. Later cameras like the Minolta DiMage 7 with in view finder review allowed me to understand how #photography and things like #shutter speed and #aperture affected images. That led to beautiful pictures—and me writing about photography and cameras in various web logs and websites. I got deeply into photography after the burn-out.
I called photography my short-form, which showed I grieved for my real avocation. The included image titled Bliss is a low-res sample of my artwork from the year before I returned to writing fiction. I've photographed weddings and children's parties. Professional DSLRs and lens are expensive, though. Some, hobbies are worth pursuing, and I'm still into photography despite having returned to writing stories in 2015.
(†) For the record, I admit the novels had flaws and I plan to heavily revise or rewrite them.
(††) Dang it... In searching for the 950, I found a refurb and bought it. Sheesh!
[Author retains copyright of text and images, (c)2024 and (c)2014 by R.S.]
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