Thinking About the Future

The future is full of hopes and dreams and fears for all of us. We write and we write, never sure if we will get real recognition for it. We edit and edit and create submission packages. We submit and then we try to live life like it is entirely normal while we wait for a response. We collect rejection letters and all the while we’re working on a new project whose fate is just as undecided as the one we’re sending out.

As a teenager about to reach adulthood there are a thousand other pressures on my mind. It’s a crucial time in my life where I will make my future-by finishing high school, by staying committed to my goals and going to college, by looking for my first real job and new life experiences. Right now I’m not just figuring out my writing career-I’m figuring out the rest of my life, and it’s kind of daunting. One passion threatens to overtake another, and school threatens to overtake them all.

Until now I’ve coasted. I’ve spent a lot of time working on my writing, a lot of time on different stories, many of which have failed. I’ve spent a lot of time blogging. But I haven’t spent a lot of time submitting.

I’ve worked just enough to get by with decent grades at school, but I haven’t really been focused on my school work, and I’ve never really looked for a job.

It’s time to stop coasting in life and to take things seriously. School is almost over and I’m waiting to hear back on a summer job. I’m starting to write essays about issues I care about for competitions. I’m editing new chapters of Moonshadow’s Guardian all the time and I can’t wait to see the finished product, even if I know it won’t really be finished yet. And in a few days, when my final projects and tests are over and done with, I’m going to start writing some short stories I want to have edited by the end of the summer.

I think about the future a lot. Almost every day. But more importantly, I think about how to get there, to the future I want. And I spend my days working towards that future.

What are some things you can do to create the future you want?