Writing is in my blood. My mother is a writer, a writing coach, and a former English teacher. When I was a kid, she wrote a lot of short stories for children. Some of them appeared in Highlights magazine. I remember being seven or eight years old and reading her stories back to her so she could be sure they read as she intended. She had me look for spelling and punctuation errors too. In other words, I was proofreading the work of a published author when I still had my baby teeth.
As a teenager and during my twenties, I wrote resumes and cover letters for people I knew. Then I got into the woodworking industry and stayed there for several years after college. My job was to put together the information woodworkers needed to build cabinets, countertops, and furniture. I learned a lot about how to communicate important details. It was excellent preparation for a career as a technical writer and UX writer.
I left woodworking in 2014 and have been writing full-time since then. My work has included marketing copy, blog posts, instructions manuals, and UI text. To me, nothing is as satisfying as a great piece of writing. It doesn't matter whether it's an error message or a 4000-word article. The right words matter, regardless of where they appear.