As a child my parents bought me my very own pair of ruby red slippers. I would put them on every night and click my heels. I would click and click and click, but after all that clicking, I would still be standing clutching my blankie in the hallway with the blue carpet. Really, I think my main problem was that I was already home – dummy – I hadn’t yet started down my yellow brick road (YBR), I couldn’t even cross the street. I was 6 with an overactive imagination.
In high school, I had an aptitude towards creative writing, but I never really thought anything of it. I’d day dream about writing a book though - that and becoming a world famous figure skating pop star that EVERYONE in the entire world admired. Britney and Christina had nothin’ on me!
Reality checked in around 17 and I applied for university in Hotel and Food Administration.
After 6-ish years of post secondary education (4 years Uni + a 1 year victory lap, 1 year off working and then 1 more year of college), I was ready to begin my professional life as a big city Ad Girl. I was going to make it and I was going to make it big!
While busting my butt off working insane hours in the fast paced, intense industry of Advertising, I decided that I should take on more hours and work on a side project. With inspiration from a former colleague (Max Sawka), I decided that the world needed (yes, I said needed) me to write down my ridiculous scenarios and unnecessary opinions.
Jenerally Speaking (aka. www.jentalkstoomuch.com) was born and the internets (all three of them* ) became filled with my incessant ramblings and wild and/or mild adventures.
What’s next?
Where is my YBR headed? Well, to write that book (obviously). I’m currently working with the talented illustrator from Windsor, Jen Huggins, who has turned me into a cartoon:
She also is beautifully and creatively taking the words from my stories, and visualizing them in imaginative, hilarious ways.
To successfully accomplish this new goal, I now have a series of next steps to go though:
- Continue to work hard and love advertising/ marketing.
- Write, write, write.
- Determine printing costs. To do this I need to determine page count.
- Determine page count.
- Find money. (I hear there’s a money tree planted in Trinity Bellwoods – DIBS - if it’s not there when I get home tonight, I’ll come after you. I know where you live.)
- Find an editor. Just because I love to write, doesn’t mean I don’t make tons of grammar mistakes.
- Determine if I’m to work with a real publisher, or publish it on my own. Yikes.
- Get training again so I can be that world famous figure skating pop star. Twenty-nine’s not too old to be a teenage pop star right?
So, with some zigzagging and jigjagging, I now know what I’m supposed to do. No matter where I am in my life (professionally or unprofessionally), I need to write. It’s what I’m supposed to do. I feel it, writing is my YBR!
If you’ve managed to read this far and are interested in this new endeavour of mine or just feel like contacting me, my info is below:
http://www.jentalkstoomuch.com/
@jennyus
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jenlwoodall
http://www.facebook.com/jentalkstoomuch
jenlwoodall@hotmail.com
*Max gets joke cred on that one!
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