When you realize you’re too old to apply for a lot of writing things. And you aren’t even 40. This “standard,” and the pressure to do everything before you’re 35—what is this crap? Complete crap.

30, 35 is barely or not even the beginning of a writing career most of the time.

And also, writing is something we get better and better at our whole lives.

I’m not even applying for writing things right now and I’m all fueled up about this.

Societal expectations teach us that career trajectory is a straight diagonal line going up up up, but in all actuality, and for most of us, the journey is like this:

The path is especially scribbly and longer for those of us who are first-generation grads without financial resources, needing to work full-time and take out student loans (that also go up up up) while we get our education.

I mean, it took me 10 years to finish undergrad, what with no financial resources, working full-time, and getting and healing from a serious illness all while trying to go to school. We should not base everything— especially writing and art fellowships—on how fast we do things.

(That space after the first dash in my last tweet is really bugging me, but I’m gonna leave it.)

Nothing is linear. Even a line isn’t linear.