How I became a storyteller

open book
©Mia Salminen 2015

I’ve never been a book reader, and I prefer watching things on TV. If I read something, it isn’t novels. I’ve read a lot of autobiographies, and when I was a child, I read books for kids. The kids’ books were written in Swedish, and they were easy to read, too. I’ve read books in Finnish as well. The book I read the most was a book about Heidi. It was adapted from a movie. I reread it last summer in a day or two. I own some books, but I go to the library when I want to read a book. I own the ‘Lord of the Rings’ book but have never finished it. My late dad bought it for Christmas, and he read it in one evening. It’s too long for my taste. I prefer the movies. The book that I have read by Tolkien is ‘The Hobbit’. I’ve read that a couple of times. I own one in English, but I have also read it in Finnish once. I’m not patient enough to read long books. Unless it’s a fascinating book or an autobiography.

I’ve always wanted to write and was pretty good at it in school. I didn’t want to write a book, as someone thought I would when I said I wanted to write. I wanted writing to be part of something else. The same goes for photography and graphic design. I don’t want to do only one thing. There are different ways to be a raconteur than someone writing books. I became a storyteller after I found my fascination with fan fiction. I didn’t find stories I wanted to read, so I started to write my own. That’s where I shine the most. But writing fiction is only a hobby and doesn’t pay the bills. It’s also a learning curve for learning English, and I don’t need to read books to keep my imagination running. Some might say that reading books teaches you to use words, but you can also learn words by watching movies or TV shows. I want to write with words that anyone can understand. You don’t need fancy words to write a good story. Writing fiction is easier for me than writing about facts.

For example, I struggle with what to write on social media right now. It’s supposed to be in Finnish, but it doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m so used to writing in English, so writing it in my language isn’t easy. The other thing is that Swedish is my mother tongue, so I find it hard to find words to describe something in Finnish. Knowing three languages can sometimes confuse your vocabulary. When I write fiction in English, the inspiration comes quicker, and I could write for hours. But I get stuck when writing about facts about myself and what I want to achieve. The challenging part is writing about it in Finnish. I’m just not a storyteller when it comes to real life. Things would be easier if I could tell a story the way I write fiction. I guess it’s about getting used to things instead of giving up because something is too difficult. You live, learn, and become a better raconteur when you write as often as possible. That’s the way you learn other things in life. That’s how I learned to write in English in the first place. Practice makes you better at what you do.

Internships are not considered as real jobs

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What jobs have you had?

Daily Writing Prompt

I read about that claim, but I disagree. Just because you haven’t been paid doesn’t mean it isn’t a real job. The only time I got paid was when I worked as a media assistant four years ago. Before that, I had only internships where I got 9 euros a day, plus unemployment benefits. Then, on-the-job learning was part of education. Those are better than no job experience at all. Finding paying jobs is like swimming in syrup. It’s sticky, and you feel like you’re in can’t get out of it.

I’ve had internships that I had to take to get work experience. At the time, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I have more education than jobs. That’s the way it is, and I can’t change it. My first ever internship was in the kindergarten, but the only fun thing was being with the kids. They were so sweet. The rest wasn’t fun, so I won’t mention them. One of the first was in a net cafe, the most boring thing ever. There was nothing to do. I was supposed to help people with computers, but there were only a few customers. Other times, it was only sitting around and doing nothing. I also updated the memberships list on the computer. Once, I made a flyer about an event, but that’s about it.

The next job wasn’t much better but wasn’t as bad. It was mostly office work, posting things and so on. A few times, I took photos with a bad camera. Both of these jobs were in organisations, so they couldn’t pay. It was still a job or a workplace. That’s better than staying at home. At least I got something more than benefits.

Another internship was also in a boring place. It was a mail service business. I helped with packaging and updated customer contact information. Not a very exciting job. I didn’t like it, but I had to be there for about 2 months. When it ended, I was relieved.

The following internships involved education. One was in a local newspaper, where I studied visual expression for two years, between 2009 and 2011. We had on-the-job learning in the 2nd year. I did graphics for a local newspaper. Finished maps and infographics for the paper. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to do anything graphic design or photography. In fact, it was boring, and I was too shy to say much to my co-workers. One said they could teach me to draw, but I never asked. I wish I did, but what was done is done. I was only happy I didn’t need to travel to school for a month.

In 2012, I was a photographer for another local newspaper. But they only let me be there for 2 weeks. They made me believe they would consider me for a more extended period, but they probably already had some students coming in. So disappointing, but at least I got a few photos in the newspaper that I still have. Even if it was for a short time, that was probably the best internship I had so far. I liked I didn’t have to stay in the office all day. That was the job I wanted to do, to do different things.

My last education-related on-the-job learning was in 2017 when I studied web design for a year. We had one in the Spring and the other in the Autumn. The first one, I had one client. I did web design, but it wasn’t easy since I don’t like coding. I still don’t. I got something done, though. The client was understanding. I got good feedback, so it was nice to read. For the one in the Autumn, I had two clients. It was crucial to have at least two because we would have a presentation of our work in front of evaluators to pass the course. I did web and graphic design. One was a remake of a WordPress site. The other was designing a logo and a new website with WordPress. I truly liked freelancing, and then I started to think about entrepreneurship, but that’s another story.

Those were the jobs I had. Internships are real jobs, and it’s a shame employers don’t appreciate them. It feels like they have syrup in their brains, so they can’t see the bigger picture. There can be other reasons, too, but that’s how it feels. All I can think is it’s their loss. It doesn’t make me feel better, but it does bring me some comfort.

Do what I tell you

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What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

Daily Prompt

A skill or ability I wish I had would be mind control. Then I could tell people how to think. They would think the way I do. If I wrote a story, they would give me the comments I would give. They would like the photos that I post on Instagram. I would use mind control for the good. I wouldn’t want people to do anything terrible. I would tell people to stop the wars they started, like the one in Ukraine. Turn bad people into good.

Mind control would be useful in job search. If I wanted a job, I would get it. Employers would hire people much easier. If I sent an application for a job, I would get an interview. I wouldn’t have to wait for ages for a reply. Things would move faster if mind control could be used. Anything you apply for will get a solution faster. If you want a loan from a bank, you would get it, and you wouldn’t need to pay it back.

Mind control has its downsides, but what thing doesn’t. To keep things stay stable, you would need to speed things up. Certain things take too much time. Life is too short to wait. If I could use mind control, there wouldn’t be a disagreement. If I told them what to do, they would do it. If someone said to me what to do, I would only say no, and they would let it go. I’m sure there are parents who wish they had mind control so they would get their kids to do chores at home. But then again, if the kids would also use mind control, things wouldn’t be so good after all. In the end, having your own mind and thoughts is much better than having mind control.