7
My high school teacher said I'd never make it as a writer and he was right for 20 years
Mr. Peterson told me my essays were too emotional and that technical writing was the only path. I spent two decades in insurance reports and instruction manuals before I finally got a short story published last March. Has anyone else had a piece of criticism that sat in your head that long?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
sage_dixon14d ago
That's a heavy weight to carry for two decades, and I'm really glad you finally got that story out. Teachers have no idea how much their offhand comments can burrow into a person's soul and block them for years. Must feel like a huge weight lifted to prove him wrong, even if it took some time.
7
vera30814d agoTop Commenter
Hold up though, I gotta push back a little. Calling that teacher a soul crusher might be giving them way too much credit. Sounds like the guy just said something dumb in passing, not like he sat down and wrote a whole life plan for you. Sometimes we turn a random throwaway comment into this huge monster in our heads when the other person probably forgot they even said it five minutes later. Not saying it didn't sting, but giving him that much power over two decades feels like we're letting him off the hook for our own choices too.
4