Too late for Content Writing?
People ask how I got into content writing at this point in my life, post a corporate career that is not even related to writing. Even my education is more technical with more math and chemistry in it.
Well, changing direction and starting new things are not foreign to me. I had this exchange many years ago:
Job Interviewer: Don’t you think it’s too late
for you to shift careers?
Me: No. I don’t think there’s such a thing as too late
for something you really want to do.
I was thirty-two and moving from R&D line of work to Technical Sales – from laboratory and manufacturing plants to an office in a high-rise building in Makati, from lab gowns to corporate attire, from working within four walls with the same people every day to doing it outside of the office and meeting all kinds of people. It was a bit of a scary shift, but I was not deterred; I really wanted it.
How can thirty-two be too late for anything, anyway? Had I not pursued my passion then, I would not experience the things that I did, and it would have been a different life.
I spent many years in that job, and now that I am out of it, I say it again, even at this point, there’s no such thing as something too late for something you really want to do.
So after a corporate career, I went into life insurance sales which brought me blessings, and then real estate sales which still is a blessing, and now content writing, all new to me when I started, but nothing a good training couldn’t address.
Content writing is a new interest and endeavor that I never thought I would seriously pursue.
Is Writing a Gift or a Skill?
We were all taught grammar and composition writing in school, but why do some just love writing while others don’t?
Are good writers born with it, or did they acquire it? Can adults past their prime and without real writing experience learn it?
For me, writing is both a gift and, at the same time, a skill that needs to be learned and honed. I tend to believe that writers come from the types of personalities that don’t mind being alone, are introspective, into details, observant, and those who love to read. In addition to these, one has to have that inclination to pen his thoughts regardless of whether he thinks he’s good at it or not, and even if they are not meant to be shared.
Nothing Beats Reading
It helps a lot when an aspiring writer is a reader. Reading is the best vocabulary builder, and word application and sentence construction teacher. Children should be encouraged to read what interests them the most, as long as they don’t have adult and overly violent content. Reading also opens our eyes to different worlds, even those that we are not likely to experience. It gives us insights into different people’s motivations and why they act the way they do.
As children, we had a regular supply of Liwayway and Sunday Times Magazines and Reader’s Digest. But aside from Liwayway, what got my interest was Tagalog comics which were not even allowed at home. So, I would sneak under the house of our relative, where they kept a box full of them, and quietly read my time away.
I eventually outgrew comics and started reading Reader’s Digest and magazines. In my late teens, my interest changed to romance books which later became novels of the likes of Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham, Robert Ludlum, etc. Reading then was like binge-Netflix-watching these days when I would spend the whole night reading. The better the book, the slower I would read as I would savor each scene in my mind. There is something beautiful and compelling in written words that even their movie counterparts often can’t match.
Getting Paid for Writing
Did I ever imagine that I would go into writing for pay? No, not until recently when the world halted, and everyone had to stay home. Everyone went online, and opportunities just showed up in my feed.
Did I love writing before? Not consciously; it’s not one of the things I would list down when asked about my interests. But people said I could write. Most of what I did was the technical stuff, though. I used to have a small notebook in my lab gown pocket wherein I would write my thoughts and prayers whenever I could. Writing poems was also a past time when my emotions were high. At one point, I thought I could probably write scripts, but that’s just it. I tried blogging but stopped after two articles. I did not feel my writings were interesting enough to even share them. Writing was an unconscious interest.
Never Too Late to Learn New Things
But when a chance came along, I grabbed it. Attending the Ben Button Content Writing Course opened a new world for me. I met new people and it presented opportunities I did not see before.
I have just started and have a lot more to learn. But now that I have dipped my toes into it, I will hone it so that by God’s grace, I can dive deeper into the ocean of opportunities that this new world offers.
I can’t stress it enough, nothing stops us from learning new things, regardless of where we are in our life journey, regardless of our age. It can be anything we find interest in, anything, even content writing.
Shoot us a message or comment for any question about Ben Button Content Writing Courses and my content writing journey.