My dad looks at writing as a waste of time. Once, when I shared with him that an agent had requested to see some of my manu..he told me that there are millions of people that write, the competition is too tough and that it's pointless to pursue something everyone else is trying to do.
All I could do was sit there and stare at him, whilst in my mind I was running through my list of real life friends who write..which was NIL..which is why I ended up here!
He's a black and white guy who never appreciated my focus on drawing, painting and art in high school...it never pays the bills you know! (pffft) I believed a lot of that crap in high school, but now as an adult, I only share my writing with people who ask about it and offer nothing to my dad until the day I can present him with a shining new copy of my first published novel. Even then, I'm sure he will have something to say about it.
I encourage parents to never discourage their childrens dreams. Art can and does provide scholarships for college. Art in any form, be it writing, painting, drawing, music, sculpture. If we cant pursue our dreams, what on earth are we here for?
I never expect my dreams to pay my bills, dreams are not about the money, but more about accomplishing something we never imagined we could! My dream is to give something back to the book world for the years of escape and adventure, horror and sadness that I enjoyed in reading them. Now, I want to be a part of that..and I never give credibility to anyone who ever knocks another persons dreams..end of rant