Writing Quote by William Jackson

A resume line that reads like a quiet origin story is doing more work than it admits. William Jackson sets up a three-act progression: disciplined craft (journalism school), innate play (cartooning since childhood), then the late-arriving left turn (puppetry). The intent isn’t just to list influences; it’s to argue for legitimacy. Journalism is the credential, the socially acceptable foundation. Cartooning is the proof of lifelong compulsion. Puppetry, arriving “much later,” becomes the surprise that needs explaining, as if anticipating the listener’s raised eyebrow: Really, puppets?

The subtext is about identity being built from mismatched parts. Writing skills suggest clarity, structure, and an instinct for audience. Cartooning implies compression and character: saying a lot with a few lines, literally and figuratively. Puppetry folds those talents into performance and control, a medium where voice, gesture, and concealment matter as much as wit. That “however” is doing heavy lifting, marking puppetry as the outlier that ultimately completes the toolkit.

Contextually, this is the kind of statement creatives use when they’re bridging worlds for an interviewer, grant panel, or skeptical relative. It frames a career not as a zigzag but as an evolution: from reporting the world, to drawing it, to animating it. The late-blooming interest also signals permission. You’re allowed to pick up a strange, tactile art form after you’ve already built a “serious” skill set. That’s not just biography; it’s a small, persuasive manifesto about how creative lives actually form.