A Friend and Mentor

When I started writing I worked as a night snowmaker in northern New Hampshire and then as a sawyer for the Forest Service. My degree is in Political Science, but my desire after college was the woods and ski slopes of northern New England.

I knew writing was ultimately my destination, so when I woke one day and said to myself time to get started, I didn't have a sense of the how of it. I wrote for the local paper then got a job as a journalist at another paper in the southern tier of the state. I did well. I won awards within months for my work and consistently broke big stories and won more awards.

However, my career never seemed to move forward.

Meanwhile, I watched as numerous people with fewer entries on their resumes snatch up plum jobs at big papers for wages that seemed dream-like to me. As hard as I tried I couldn't break through. Then I decided to shift to writing that's more inline with my desire to write. Again, I watched others seem to jump the line.

The difference?

Judging writing is mostly subjective and I'd won numerous awards, so I felt I was in the same league as these other people. What I noticed they had that I didn't was a mentor. Someone to show them the writing ropes and help gain them entry into the next and higher level of journalism or writing.

Eventually, I was given a hand up and I made the most of it and I have my current career, but it took a long time and was based on the faith and generosity of another.

This is why I offer my writer's mentor/coach service. We all need that one person who will inform our writing and provide a hand up so we can get where we want to go.