Tag: personal essay

Shedding the Shoulds

My latest essay for my Substack, Midlife Rewrite, is now live. It’s a personal reflection on the long journey of trying to write in the genres I loved as a reader—epic fantasy and sci-fi—and the liberating discovery that my own voice was waiting for me somewhere else entirely.

This piece is about moving past the pressure of external expectations and the creative graveyard of unfinished projects to finally trust the stories we are meant to tell. It’s the core of what the “Midlife Rewrite” is all about.

Shedding the Shoulds by Melanie Parkinson

Read on Substack

Originally published on Midlife Rewrite. Subscribe there to join me on this journey of creative exploration and honest storytelling.