Why I Became a Writer
By: Anthony Moore
Tags: Medium, Anthony Moore, Entrepreneurship, Business, Writing

Traveling the world was always a top priority for my wife and I. We wanted to eat sushi in Japan, baguettes in France, pizza in Italy. Neither of us had really traveled anywhere; we had been dreaming about traveling the world since we first started dating.

Here’s what happened that changed everything:

At work one day, I mentioned my dream to travel the world with some coworkers.

And I’ll never forget how my coworkers reacted:

They scoffed.

They scoffed.

The Epiphany

When I told my coworkers my dream, they straight up laughed at me.

They told me to keep dreaming — I’d never be able to get the time off work. Sure, maybe a long weekend trip somewhere local. But to get a week off in a corporate job? Let alone several weeks? Ha! Maybe after 5–10 years, when I’d accrued enough vacation time. Welcome to the real world kid, they said. This is how it is.

And that’s when I was like…fuck this.

I decided right then and there. Come hell or high water, I’m going to be a writer and never, ever, ever work in a terrible place like this ever again.

But how?

Right around the same time, I stumbled upon an article that gave me the answers I needed. I still remember it vividly; it was titled Why Most People Will Never Be Successful.

The article said that most people were simply not willing to do the work to get what they wanted. Most people won’t be successful because they never fully commit to doing the work to achieve their dreams.

That article punched me in the face. It was like a light went on in my head. I saw things more clearly than ever before. It felt like waking up from a 25-year old dream.

For the next few months, I began going through an incredible mental transformation. I needed to be a writer — OK. At the time, all I had was some silly blog with, frankly, nothing good on it at all.

I realized I hadn’t been taking myself seriously. I just journaled silly thoughts here and there, even a whole eBook, of junk that wasn’t helping anybody. I knew it was time to get serious.

I also knew it was time to get the hell out of my 9–5 job. Every day when I walked into work, it felt like I was carrying a big, gross, slimy, acidy black ball of dread lodged firmly in my stomach.

The Plan:

So my wife and I got serious. We started working on a secret plan to escape. We told no one — we didn’t want anyone at our jobs finding out.

We secretly got our Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate so we could finally travel the world (and get paid!). It took months. Remember, I was working full-time and still finishing my master's degree. What little free time I had left vanished.

But it was worth it. We finally had a plan.

I finished my last online class on October 18th, 2017. The next month, I told my boss I was leaving. My last day at work felt like a dream — I knew I was never coming back. Ever.

Then we sold everything we had and moved to South Korea to teach English. We didn’t speak the language, didn’t know anyone there, and had no experience traveling.

But we couldn’t be more excited.

Still, I knew I hadn’t “made it” yet. I was keenly aware: if I didn’t become a serious writer while in South Korea, I’d be forced to come back to America and go find another horrible soul-sucking desk job again. Not an option.

So I started posting on this little site called Medium. Like, all the time. Before, I would post a few times a month on my little blog that no one read, then not publish again for months out of depression and frustration. But in Korea, I started publishing content almost every day.

It was a really busy schedule — teaching and grading homework and navigating a new country/food/culture/language/job — but desperation made me incredibly motivated. Come hell or high water, I would become a successful writer.

I started consistently waking up at 5:00 am (!) before long-ass school days just to write another article. Every break I had at school, I’d scarf down some instant ramen, walk over to Starbucks in the freezing South Korean winter, and work on another article. Write, write, write.

Things started…happening.

I started getting on the “top 20 most popular Medium articles” like, all the time. I remember one day, my wife and I were sitting in a Korean coffee shop on our day off. When I opened my computer, I saw that I had over 600 views in a single day. That was the most I’d ever, ever, ever had.

I knew something was happening, something special. So I kept writing, kept publishing.

But then, heartbreaking disaster.

The disaster

I had signed up for a writing course hosted by my favorite Medium writer. He was one of the most successful writers on the platform, and it’s not exaggerating to say I was a freakin’ disciple of his. My notebooks and journals were filled with quotes by him. I devoured his content, and wanted to be just like him. I practically wanted to be him, and my writing style was very influenced by his. So when his course came by, I jumped at the chance to spend hundreds of dollars to buy it.

In my eagerness and excitement, I had begun stupidly, unintentionally plagiarizing this guy’s work. Not a lot — a line here, a quote there. It wasn’t out of malice or deceit; I basically worshipped the guy! I wanted to be just like him! I was quoting and citing him all the time in my work already. But a few times, I just didn’t. In my attempts to imitate his style, I began mimicking him a little too much.

Someone in the course called me out. I just wanted to say, I’ve been seeing some plagiarism and copying in here. I’m not going to name names, but unless this person comes forward, I’m going to say something soon, the ominous comment read.

Wow, sucks for that person, I remember thinking. I didn’t even realize they were talking about me!

The next day, I wake up and use the restroom, as I usually do. I’m sitting on the toilet, and I see a notification on my phone: my favorite Medium writer (the guy who made the course) sent me a personal message!! I was ecstatic. Even though I was undeniably, indisputably his #1 fan in the whole world, there were over a hundred students in the course, and I knew he had lots of customers just like me. Still, I couldn’t believe he had actually sent me a message!

But when I read the message…oh man. I still remember how stunned and horrified I felt.

I know you’ve been plagiarizing my work, it read. Something like that; That’s unacceptable. I don’t appreciate people stealing my work. We’ve decided to kick you out of the course.

That was it. Short and sweet. Final.

I remember enormous beads of sweat breaking out all along my forehead. My temperature spiked. I wanted to puke. I wanted to cry. Me, plagiarizing? Me? I’m your biggest fan! I would never do that! Not intentionally, at least! It’s all a huge misunderstanding!

But it was about to get worse.

I logged back in the course, intent on making a public apology for my oversight and tell everyone how sorry I was for making such a stupid mistake. But people had already beat me to it.

Hey, the copycat is named Anthony Moore! one comment read. My favorite Medium writer commented, too. Don’t worry, I spoke with him. We’re kicking him out.

My blood ran cold. I kept reading — it got worse.

Wow, that guy likes you so much, he practically wanted to BE you! the student mocked.

I know X) my hero wrote. They were laughing at me, making fun of me. Using my name. Telling the whole world I was a plagiarizer. That I was no good, that I didn’t deserve to be there.

I spent the rest of the day in stunned, somber silence. I couldn’t eat. I could barely concentrate. To have my hero, my hero, shit-talk me in front of the whole class, making fun of me and rejecting me…it was one of the worst days of my life.