5 Adjectives: Passion, more than just the fruit

One of my favorite questions to ask on interviews is: Give me 5 adjectives to describe yourself. To me, it is always the most telling of the questions. If you're worth anything then you come to the interview prepared for most questions, but this one always seems to get people. Everyone usually has no trouble with the first three, you pick the easy, generic stuff- hardworking, dedicated, loyal. Adjectives that tell us really nothing, it's those last two that you sit there and struggle with, but it means that those are the ones that are real. Those are two that you just had to examine yourself right there on the spot and say, I am: blank.

Over my fantastic time away at Midwest Writers Conference I got an opportunity to do a pitch, with a super real agent, which actually seemed silly to me. I got three minutes to go in to an agent who has been at it all day and try to get her to fall in love with my book. So you work really hard to put together this beautiful, quick blurb about your book and why it is so awesome. But what if it were a job interview? What if I had to answer that question and give that agent 5 adjectives to describe me as an author? And on that not-really-that-long drive home I thought about me and what makes me special.

So here's my first adjective: PASSION

Disney named a princess after me and made her
act just like me.

And yes, Disney making a princess named after me that reminds me so much of myself. This is what I looked like talking to people about my book and my planned books and their books and learning about how to write books and books in general and, well, let's just leave it at I was excited. I am passionate about writing. I buried it for a while, trying to get out from under the "artist" stigma and worked towards a real profession so that I could do the fluffy stuff on the side. But it burst out of me, when I least expected it.

Once I embraced my passion, things started to fall into place for me. I feel like myself when I'm writing or thinking about my stories. I remember the first time I was explaining a new story to my sister and I could barely sit still. People sometimes think I'm a little off my rocker, but to be fair, they thought that before I started writing.

So whatever you do, writing, knitting, or making spreadsheets, make sure that you feel that passion. It's what motivates you to get up in the morning and gets you through the day. So find your passion, embrace it, love it, live it, and share it with others. And then maybe have some of that fruit. I hear it's really good.


I'll be posting the other 4 adjectives next. What adjectives best describe you?


Thank you http://www.reactiongifs.com/ for the wonderful gifs. Especially of Anna, she's my favorite.