V is for Vocation

A vocation, often also called 'a calling', is defined as: A person's employment or main occupation, esp. regarded as particularly worthy and requiring great dedication.

There are many different types of vocation from those who believe they are called by their god, monks, nuns, clergy, imams, high priest/esses to professions like nursing and teaching, where the best can truly be said to have a calling to their trade.

Writing, too, I believe is a vocation. Okay, so maybe it is not always worthy ;P, but it does require great dedication, and there is something of a calling about it; most writers will tell you it is compulsive, rather than optional. I love writing, it brings me great pleasure to put words onto a page and create a story, even though sometimes that can be a challenge. I wouldn't write if I didn't enjoy it and I have made the first step in making it my chosen career, albeit, in order to earn a crust, only half of the time at the moment.

I also love it when other people like my writing as well (an author who tells you they don't like feedback is probably telling porkies ;P). The sharing of the story is half of the compulsion. I want to entertain people, I want to make them smile, make them cry and make them root for my hero/ine. I would be positively bouncing if someone actually wanted to write fanfic for my stories, because that kind of investment in someone else's created world is substantial. It's not (all) about ego, it's the shared experience, being able to talk about creating that world with other people, finding out what they think (and no, I won't say I love it when someone doesn't like my stories, but as long as they have a good reason, it's up to them).

I think the big difference between my chosen career, writing, and my earn-a-crust job, project management, for me, is that I will spend all the hours I can writing, creating, thinking through new ideas, in fact, I can become overwhelmed with ideas sometimes, but with project management, I enjoy it, I'm good at it, but I like to leave it behind when I go home from work of an evening. I never leave writing behind, wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, be it travelling on the bus to the other job, or standing in front of my computer writing my next masterpiece, I am always a writer, a creator of ideas through words. My imagination is very important to me, and I am always trying to improve my writing techniques to better get my message across to my reader.

Simply put, my vocation, writing is not something I do, it is something I am.

What do you think, is writing a calling?


P.S. Check out other folk doing the A to Z April Challenge.

And if you want to see my other posts:

Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles A to Z Challenge Posts

View more lists from Sophie Duncan