The Foreign Service Journal, November 2024

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2024 55 our lifestyle acquire unique perspectives and have much to o er others. So, if you have a compelling story idea, a knack for telling a story, and the urge to sit for hours and crank it out, give it a go! ompson: Like most things in life, if you really, really, really want it, go for it. Do not let anything stop you. If you don’t know what to write about, write about yourself, as that is what you know best. Write every day. Use social media as a way to force yourself to write every day. Join a writer’s group. Start with a journal or blog. Try a podcast if you can’t write it down. If you can’t get published, do it yourself. If this is what you want—to write, to see your name on a book, to tell a story—just do it. —Mikkela Thompson Don’t let anyone dissuade you, whatever the reason. If this is what you want—to write, to see your name on a book, to tell a story—just do it, even if it’s just to write about how you met your partner because you think you have the greatest love story ever. Or if you want to write the sort of children’s book you wish you had read when you were a child, then do that. If you can’t nd the time, then it’s not what you really, really, really want. And that’s okay, too. n

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