How a Struggling Student Became a Forbes-Praised Author – From “Messy Handwriting” Penalties to Best-selling Author (And How You Can Read My Books for Half Off)
Growing up, I struggled a lot in school. Academics weren’t my strengths, with one exception – reading and writing.
From my earliest school days, and even before I started school, I was in love with books and dreamed one day I might write them. However, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever achieve this goal.
In elementary school, I used to look forward to standardized testing days.
On regular school days, there would be many demands and multiple subjects to study, but on standardized testing days, we were only expected to work on one subject (whatever subject they were testing us on that day).
Regular school days were also noisy and chaotic.
Most school days, my teacher and peers would make a lot of noise, but on standardized testing days, it was quiet and calm, with no teacher leading us through exercises. For the most part, on testing days, we were left alone to work through our test packets. The teacher would set us up and turn us loose, and I loved it.
I loved the quiet testing room, where we weren’t constantly switching between tasks and subjects.
It was great being left alone to work at my own pace, with as much time as I needed to complete my work and no teacher interrupting me or demanding I switch tasks and subjects to her schedule.
Whenever I was done with my test, I could draw, take a nap, or quietly read a library book of my choosing (all things I normally wasn’t allowed to do during a regular school day).
Testing days were the only days at school that I felt I had control over my pacing. I’ve always done better when I am left to work at my own pace.
I was a good standardized test-taker, partly because I was sent to a class that taught us how to take standardized tests (using elimination and reverse-engineering on multiple-choice math questions).
I wasn’t really good at math, but the math on standardized tests was easier than the quizzes and homework we were given in math class because I had the answers; I just had to figure out which ones were wrong so I could eliminate those and choose the right ones.
Most of the time, I struggled in school, with mediocre grades, but through standardized testing, especially the writing portion of the test, I was able to shine.
My favorite part of the standardized tests was the written essay.
Even though handwriting and penmanship were normally difficult for me and I struggled greatly to write legibly, in the quiet test room, with no interruptions, I was able to hyperfocus on the prompt during the writing portion of the exam.
Once I found myself ‘in the zone’, I could somehow finish my essay before most of the class, an essay that almost always earned me a perfect score (even with my less-than-perfect handwriting).
Normally, during the regular school day, teachers would deduct ‘handwriting points‘ from my papers for ‘messy work‘, but the rules for standardized tests were different, leaving me with perfect scores I could never get outside of the testing room.
Because I struggled so much in the classroom, I often felt like I wasn’t good at school, but those perfect (or near-perfect) standardized test scores would give me a little boost, making me feel like I could do something right for once.
Most of the time, outside of the testing room, the best grade I would see was a B, because the frequent 10-point ‘messy work‘ deductions my teachers would subtract from my papers automatically meant the best score I could get in the normal school day was a 90 or a B+ even if I did everything else perfectly, and I rarely did everything else perfectly.
Things changed when typing was added to the curriculum, and our teachers gave us the option to handwrite or type the final drafts of our writing papers.
Well… my peers, who had better handwriting, had the option to handwrite or type their papers, but due to my poor penmanship, my teacher made it mandatory that I turn all my final drafts in typed (which turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me).
Once I learned to type, I was finally able to turn in papers without a 10-point deduction for messiness, and I could be graded on the quality of my words rather than how neatly I wrote them, which gave me a much-needed ego boost.
By middle school, I was typing up stories and essays for my own enjoyment, and my dreams of one day writing a book were feeling more possible.
Back then, I thought I might one day write works of fiction. In my mind, I didn’t think anyone would ever want to read about me because my life wasn’t interesting enough to write about… or so I thought.
Young me had a dream, but could never have imagined how real that dream would become one day, or that, instead of fictional characters, I myself would become a subject in the books I would write.
Younger me would probably also struggle to believe that I would write a business ethics book, and that that book would be praised in Forbes as “an excellent ‘how-to manual’ based on lived experience and professional competence” and that I would self-publish that book, and another one about my life and struggles growing up in a world that was full of unrealistic and unfair expectations.
My young self could never have guessed that I’d help bring to life an educational workbook meant to help Autistic young people navigate the world around them, or that I’d have the opportunity to co-create a similar workbook for adults (that will be released later this year).
Young me also didn’t know they were Autistic…
My younger self could never have imagined that, by the time we turned 40, many of our biggest dreams of becoming a writer would come true, and now, all these years later, it brings me great joy to know that I’ve exceeded the dreams my younger self had for us, and that we now get to share those dreams with the world.
So… with that in mind, today I’m excited to announce that as of today (and for the rest of this month), the eBook versions of two of our books (‘Workplace Neurodiversity Rising‘ and ‘Neurodivergent Rebel’s The Weight of Normal‘) will both be available half price on Smashwords during their 18th Annual Summer Sale!
The sale, which lasts the entire month of July, is a great time to get either book (or both of our self-published books) for half price (when you use the code SSW50 at checkout).
You can find all my on-sale books at:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LyricRivera
I am not the only author participating in this summer sale. There are many great eBooks of all types available at greatly discounted prices this month.
You can also check out all the other Authors participating in this sale via the link below:
https://www.smashwords.com/sale
It would mean the world to me if you would consider sharing this promo with friends and family. You can even forward this email or share this post with the readers in your life.
Thank you for your help and support!
Happy reading,
-Lyric Rivera
This post was written with the assistance of Focused Space (a sponsor of the Neurodivergent Rebel blog).
What is Focused Space?
Focused Space is an ADHD-focused, Neurodiversity affirming, goal‑setting, and online co‑working / body‑doubling platform designed to help people prioritize, stay motivated, and bust through procrastination (and it is something I believe in and personally use every day).
More info:
Learn more about how I use it here!
I get requests (that I mostly ignore) to do brand partnerships all the time, because I don’t want to partner with products unless I actually find them useful and high-quality. I also want to work with brands whose owners and processes align with my personal standards and ethics.
That’s why I’m excited to announce that the Neurodivergent Rebel Blog is officially partnering with Focused Space, and our community members can now get access to Focused Space at a special rate of 20% off forever when you use the code “NEURODIVERGENTREBEL” at checkout via the button below or at get.focused.space/neurodivergentrebel:
Now when you Get Focused Space via the link above you’re getting discounted access to a great tool as while supporting the work I do here at the NeuroDivergent Rebel Blog.
Also, if you ever join a 7am CST wakeup call, or pop into an un-hosted Quiet Owl session on a week day, you might bump into me.
Not sure if Focused Space is for you?
- You can start with a free 14-day trial.
- And because this is an ADHD-friendly app, Focused Space will send you an email reminder 7 days before you are billed, so you can cancel after the first week if it’s not a good fit for you.
