We were lucky to catch up with Melissa Drucker recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Melissa , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
It took me a long time to find my true purpose, but when I did…everything became so clear. I tried to first find my purpose through jobs, but it never worked. I thought I had to be completely fulfilled and happy with my 9-5 or whatever my job was at the moment…but I never found true happiness. I was so lost.
I was starting to lose hope that I’d never be fulfilled or happy with what I do and that made me question literally everything. So, after a long decade of figuring things out, I was somewhat thrusted back into what fulfilled me which was writing. Writing has always been a constant in my life but over many years of not really writing much, I lost the knowledge of how that gave me purpose.
I recently started writing pretty consistently again, and for the first time in a really long time, I found my purpose, and I found happiness. All I did was come back to something I’ve been doing since I was a kid, and it’s been so fantastic.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a writer. It is what I love to do. It is my art. It lights me up inside when I write, and I want to be able to write all day and all night if I could. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. As soon as I was able to write on my own, I wrote. At first it was poems, song lyrics, or little kid stories. My mom recently reminded me that I was obsessed with a computer game called “Storybook Weaver.” This was an old-fashioned computer game where you could write stories in a text-box and insert pre-generated animation with illustration tools. I would spend hours and hours playing with that game.
Then once I got to middle school, my writing was a bit more advanced as I started reading longer novels, or series. That’s when I started working on longer stories and started to have aspirations of being a writer when I “grew up.”
Fast forward to high school and my poetry has evolved and so has my writing. English was my best subject…duh. Then once I got to college, I stopped writing as much, and kind of lost writing almost all together after I graduated. It wasn’t until about a year ago that I started to slowly get back into writing again.
Now I am 100 pages into writing a romantic fantasy series, I joined The Writers Group of Central Florida, I perform my writing at open mics in coffee shops, and I have intentions of starting my own local writers’ group. I have never been happier.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three qualities or skills that were most impactful to me in my writing journey would have to be fully immersing myself in the world of writing, being a part of a social group surrounding writing, and being proficient in social media.
The more I immerse myself, the more I write because it starts to take over my life…in a good way of course.
Also, joining writing groups is a great way to develop my craft and feel empowered. Not only are people there to hype you up and give you feedback, but it is so refreshing to be surrounded by a bunch of people that are all writing.
Lastly, being proficient in social media is helpful because we live in such a digital age and everyone you know is an influencer. Being on TikTok or “BookTok” is really helpful to me because a lot of authors give advice, share their experience, and tell you about their work. If I can get a following on TikTok, that will help my chances of becoming traditionally published because publishers want your book to sell, and if you already have a voice in social media, then that means your book will sell.
The best advice I can give someone trying to achieve their dreams is hard work and persistence. To simply put it, never give up and keep working toward your goals little by little each day. Sometimes it’s okay to take a break, but never ever fully give up on your dream. If that is what you are meant to do, you might not find happiness doing something else.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
If I only had one decade of life left to live, I’d travel the world, never say no to something fun, and take chances and risks surrounding being successful because, I’m not gonna be here anyway. I would commit fully and aggressively to achieving my dreams.
Contact Info:
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/melissadrucker
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mcdruckerwriter?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Image Credits
Self & Christian Speranza
