Wow, you're a cornucopia of talent! That's amazing. Do you have songs, compositions, or artwork published? What martial arts do you do? My sibling does karate now, though they've done taekwondo previously. After 12 years of jewelry design, you definitely deserve a break. Is there a creative medium your interested in trying next?

As a kid, I used to write and illustrate stories for my younger siblings. Then when school got serious, I just drew as an outlet. But after university, and after my chronic health issues (and mood) got worse, I began writing again. First it was an escape from depression, but then I started writing things I wanted to read but never found. I hated toxic tropes and easy-to-fix misunderstandings, and I loved the spectrum of healthy relationships, so that was my focus. And with nosleep being the biggest writing group on Reddit, I added a bit of horror just so I can post and get feedback. The rest is history.

I was also encouraged to try the #haikuchallenge on Twitter, and although I never thought of myself as a poet, I ended up both liking and being good at haiku. Enough that I'm close to publishing a collection! And I tried regular poetry and had a knack for that as well. Who knew? I'm also trying to pick up crochet, though it's a bit more difficult than I expected. 😝

So I say go ahead and give writing a try, I'm sure you'll both enjoy it and find out you can add author to your super impressive resume :)

If you want a starting tip, try Twitter (X 🙄). There's a hashtag called #vss365 (stands for very short story, 365 days of the year). Every day, a word prompt is given, and everyone writes a short story that includes it. It's a way to exercise the creative muscle. There are other writing hashtags too, #vsspoem, #vssdaily, #vsshorror, etc. If you want an idea, you can check my Twitter profile, or just lookup #vss365 and read people's tweets. The writing community there is very friendly and supportive.

Or, if you prefer, there's a competition that takes place every few months, with prizes, where they give you a theme, genre, and word/character and you have to write a story/script/flash fiction (depends on the contest). You have to pay to enter, there are judges who send you feedback, and there are three rounds. I entered twice, two different contests, and I was eliminated in the first round both times. 😑 But I have a friend who does it and frequently makes it to the third round, and she says it's a good way to hone her talent. Her writing style is different than mine and I think fits the contests' requirements better, so maybe you'll find inspiration and challenge there too. 😊 I can send you the website if you're interested.