It occurred to me, in the shower the other day, that if I’m going to sell my wares – my digital content production skills – online, I should have some sort of story with which to advertise myself.

So, here I am telling you how I became a writer, and journalist, digital media producer, blogger and social media specialist.

First of all, I didn’t choose to be a writer; writing chose me. I know it’s a cliché but that’s the way it works.

When I was a boy, I hand wrote letters to my cousins in Winnipeg. I didn’t understand why my brother didn’t write letters as well, because it seemed like a fun thing to do. Of course, there was no Skype or Facebook at the time, and calling cost a fortune. So I used pen and paper. I got letters back but that was besides the point for me.

When I was in grade 7 I penned a report on the 1979 Mississauga train derailment. It got the highest mark in the class, and the teacher singled me out as the only student that understood the assignment. Mrs. Ruddle actually reviewed my report twice and bumped my mark up each time. I believe I ended up with an 85, and no one else got more than a B.

In high school I failed English class, but I have good reasons for it. I wasn’t one to complete daily assignments as they were handed out and I often didn’t like the selection of reading material with which we were subjected. Don’t ask me to name a book because I honestly can’t recall even one title.

At Concordia University, my international relations professor, the eminent Dr. Adalbert Lallier, told me that while my exam lacked some of the requisite information, my narrative flowed particularly well. Receiving such a compliment from Mr. Lallier was high praise because I respected him greatly.

In early 1994, a few months after I finished university, I return home from Montreal because I was chronically ill and couldn’t do much. I had yet to learn that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) was to blame for my problems. The one thing I could do was write so I devoted myself to it. This devotion involved seeking the company of other writers. I joined the New Writing Workshop, under the leadership of Chris Pannell and Kerry Schooley. These two gentlemen were the heart and soul of Hamilton’s literary community and I learned much from them. And I thank them sincerely for helping make my first novel better.

I self-published that novel – Introducing Mr. Leroy Petch – and did what I could to make a success of it, including garnering favourable reviews and landing two TV interviews. Apparently major publishers are slow to catch onto a great story about a self-assured high school student who was finding his niche as a vigilante hero. So the book remains a hidden treasure.

During this time I won my first writing award. An article I produced on my case of CFS landed me the short non-fiction honour from the Hamilton and Region Arts Council in 1996.

A few years later I was living in London, Ontario when I received an award for short fiction from the London Area Writers group.

At the end of 1996 I met Kim and my life changed forever. I was still in the throes of CFS and followed her to Cambridge and London (both in Ontario, not England), doing bits of freelancing along the way. A couple of years later I was much healthier (thanks to naturopathic medicine and lots of research on my part) and wanted a full life with a house and at least one baby.

In 2000 I took a major step in that direction by going back to school. I enrolled in the Journalism-New Media program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. The course was essentially two years packed into one, so I was pretty tired when I graduated eight months later.

Beautiful little Ailsa was well on her way to being born and I needed a job, pronto. I managed to land one at Citytv (I had the final interview the day before Ailsa entered the world) where I wrote the news online for four years. It was very hard work, the hours were awful, and I learned a lot. I remember the great people that I knew there and I try to forget the few in charge that made life difficult.

I started at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in the fall of 2005. I was brought on as a backfill sports writer during the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. When they didn’t need me any more I quickly transitioned to the CBC Digital Archives website team. They needed a video encoder and I had done some of that at Citytv. I guess it’s safe to say now that I really didn’t know much about encoding. But that’s what I ended up doing for them.

Before I forget, I also started writing my second novel during this time. It’s still not done! But it’s always in my mind and heart.

The Archives job was constantly evolving, mostly because of government funding cutbacks and the subsequent elimination of one team member after another from our department. I stepped in to do many different jobs including writing. What I didn’t know I learned quickly, as did we all. After five glorious years there I was moved to the Post Production department to make use of my technical knowledge. Ironically, I learned so many digital skills while with the Archives that it made my sad departure from there easy.

I didn’t love the new job, mostly because there was very little writing involved and they didn’t care that’s what I did best.
More funding cuts to CBC led to my leaving CBC in early 2013. I was reassigned but ended up walking away voluntarily because I felt pigeon-holed and wanted something different.

So, now I was unemployed. It’s an awful word with so many ugly connotations. It could lead one to picture people that sit around all day and don’t get much done. For me, it’s been the polar opposite. When I left CBC as a family man in my mid-40s, I was searching for something “better than this.” Meanwhile, I also require a paycheque. I have done a great deal of networking and research, and have learned invaluable new skills. For instance, I have become a social media devotee.

I have also met and become friends with other unemployed folks, many of whom are highly skilled and experienced, and, like me, are out there working as hard as if they were gainfully employed. Like me, they should not be without good-paying work for even one day. But that’s the way the world ball bounces, right?

Recently, I was telling my story to someone at a networking meeting and he said, “It sounds like you should be freelancing.”

I’d thought about it before but have always hedged. I’m not one to dabble and I always throw myself totally into everything I do. The prospect of becoming at once a business owner, entrepreneur, content creator, marketer, accountant and shameless self-promoter scares me as much as it excited me. But it’s time to take the plunge and begin to use all parts of my brain.

That’s the point I’m at now, going full steam ahead with success, helping others create a dazzling impression.