I need a star fix. It’s been cloudy or mostly cloudy nearly every night this past week or so. Not so great for stargazing, but better for staying inside and writing. And writing is what I’ve been doing. There are the paid projects, which have me researching everything from cosmic distance indicators to astronomy tutorials. I have a couple of scripts to write, one of them about Mars. And, there’s the writing I do for “fun”—which is usually some sort of blog entry (like this), or short stories that I share with an online writers’ group. So, I keep the old writing muscles flexed.

But, I’d sure like to do some stargazing! I have a great telescope I’d like to drag out and set up and check out some deep-sky objects. Heck, I’d even go with binoculars; just give me a sucker hole in the clouds and I’ll be there!

Speaking of writers, I had the chance to meet a writer last weekend whose work I’ve watched grow and improve over the years. He started out writing as a default when he felt his other career (acting) had come to a standstill, I think. But, the more he wrote, the more he found the muse to suit his nature. I got a copy of his book and read in it that he found his way to writing, only to realize that he’d always wanted to be a writer but had hidden it under the basket of his other ambitions and life goals. That happens. And, it turns out he’s talented at writing because he’s a creative, funny guy and he can get his ideas across really well. He works to improve both his crafts—writing AND acting—and I think he’s doing pretty well.

This is SO unlike some writers who come to the muse wanting to write but not being particularly good at it. (I won’t name names, but I’ve read a few books and heard shows written by people who must have decided that “Oh, anybody can write” and then set out to prove it, only to prove that perhaps anybody CAN write, but only those who are good at it SHOULD write.)

That set me to thinking about my writing career. In sixth grade I remember making a “calling card” that had my name on it, and underneath, the word “Writer.” That was also the year I wrote my first script, an embarrassingly bad little playlet about teenagers in ancient Egypt. I even staged it for my history class project, which was pretty audacious of me. But, it did foretell my eventual entry into script writing. Luckily for the dramaturges of the world, I’ve focused mainly on science documentaries, thus sparing the stage of any further attempts at characterizing people.

Like the fellow above, however, I pursued some other career interests before settling into life as a fulltime writer. They included newspaper reporter, teacher, student, astronomy researcher, and editor. I still do bits and pieces of all of that today, but have found the writing muse the strongest, particularly when I can use it to share astronomy and space science with people.

Well, the clouds are still overhead, and it looks like the stars won’t be out tonight. Which leaves me free to pursue some more writing. For now, I’ll leave you with a great pic from the Mars rover Spirit. At least the skies are clear on Mars!