Probably the most formative experience was reading the 'Foundation' trilogy when I was about twelve years old. That wasn't the first science fiction I had ever read, but it's something that stands out in my memory as having had a big impact on me.
Ted Chiang
There have always been arguments showing that free will is an illusion: some based on hard physics, others based on pure logic.
We don't normally think of it as such, but writing is a technology.
The universe began as an enormous breath being held. I am glad that it did... until this great exhalation is finished, my thoughts live on.
I started submitting stories for publication when I was about 15, but it was many years before I sold anything. I don't make my living writing science fiction, so in that sense, I'm still not a pro.
When I was a kid, I figured I would be a physicist when I grew up, and then I would write science fiction on the side. The physicist thing didn't pan out, but writing science fiction on the side did.
I can't recommend technical writing as a day job for fiction writers because it's going to be hard to write all day and then come home and write fiction.
