First time writing

13 Jul 2011

Do you remember the first story you wrote and what age you were when you began writing?

I wrote my first romance novel when I was thirteen, inspired by the Sweet Dreams teen romance books I used to devour. laughing6

When I look back at it now it's very awkward and embarrassing, but we've all got to start somewhere!

How did you get started writing?

13 Jul 2011

Quote by Lisa
Do you remember the first story you wrote and what age you were when you began writing?

Yeah, because it wasn't really all that long ago... icon_smile

I'm assuming too, that when you ask about the first story we wrote, that we would not include stuff we had to write for a school assignment...though looking back, the only fiction I can recall writing in school was a story I wrote about my mother's stew...I was not a big fan of my mother's cooking, and her stew especially gave me trouble, so in fifth grade I wrote a humor based piece about my mother's stew in which the descriptions no doubt bore resemblance to something out of Dante's Inferno...

In high school the only "story" I recall writing was a non-fiction piece about the Citroen automobile, I think I wrote it in tenth grade if I recall...I was also reminded by one of my Facebook friends that I went to school with that my friend Tom and myself wrote poems about biology subjects in high school...strictly for the amusement of other classmates...I don't think any of those poetic masterpieces survive, though I may have a couple in the bottom of a drawer somewhere...I have a habit of not throwing much out, and if I really looked I could probably find a couple...

I do recall the first two lines of one biology poem though...the title was "Tap Root"...

When the primary root grows big and strong,
Where secondary roots do not belong,

OK...you get the idea... happy8

That same friend and I also wrote some "spoof" songs, shall we say, set to the music of other popular songs at the time...there may be a couple of those kicking around, they basically poked fun at a couple people we knew, in a light-hearted sort of way...I know we actually recorded at least one...we had a friend we called "Scrag" who's father owned an Italian ice company a few of us worked for in the summers during high school (my Italian ice experience shows up in one of my stories "Carnival Knowledge"...I did meet a girl named Cindy in the same way described in the story, though I was working at the ice stand...and I did stay for a week at the Flemington Fair, though I was not a carnie)...anyway, I do recall Tom and I recording a song called "Scrag Out Of Hell" set to the tune of Meatloaf's "Bat Out Of Hell" which came out in 1977, when we were 16...I believe I still have that recording on a reel-to-reel somewhere...

From the time I left high school until 2009, the only writing I did was song lyrics...most of these didn't survive since they were written on paper, this was before computers, and if I really digged I could probably find more...but, there are a few posted here as poems...the first one I posted on the net was "I Wish I Knew" which was a failed song attempt, hence the odd form...I think the third verse was supposed to be the refrain, which is why it is only four lines...there are a couple others, like "My Brother" and "25 And Still Alive" which were rap-song attempts, lol...and I know that latter was written somewhat after my 25th birthday...I was probably about 35 when I wrote it...

The first story I ever wrote as an adult was called "Jimmy Gets Replaced" and was written April 21, 2009...I had come across an article on sex fantasy one day while surfing the net, and it mentioned a "sex fantasy site" where people wrote up their fantasies and others rated and commented...I joined the site initially just to read and comment on the stories, I had no intention of writing anything. They had a Hottest Fantasy list though, and somehow it seemed to call my name...lol...almost like a mountain that needed to be climbed. I wondered if I could come up with something that could make the list, and so after only a few days on the site, I wrote the Jimmy story, based on something an ex-girlfriend told me...heck, I even used her name...it did not make the list...in fact, it really didn't do all that well...it had a 3.5/5.0 average and no comments for the longest...

Three days later I got the idea for another story "Morning In The Park"...that made the list with all 5 votes...it was also the first story I sold...I sold it to Oysters & Chocolate erotic e-Zine earlier this year...

I know there's another thread kicking around about if we feel we've improved as a writer since our earliest stuff...and looking back at "Morning In The Park" I'd like to say yes...I think the second or third paragraph is like a giant run-on sentence...but, I'd also have to point out, that just because a story is better "technically" does not necessarily make it more "saleable" or a better story...

Maybe I'll have to go over there and leave a comment later...enough for now...

I once knew a drinker who had a moderating problem...

14 Jul 2011

The first story I wrote just for the love of writing was when I was 12 years old. It wasn't really about anything, it was like taking a walk through a forest on a cool autumn day. It was three pages long, of course it was written in long hand, so I cannot be sure of the word count (word count never mattered back then).

The following year our local community paper was having a writing contest and one of my teachers submitted my story, I won second prize. I was chuffed, my parents were proud and my teacher encouraged me to start reading more poetry and prose, thus a writer was born. She mentored me in many ways. In fact, she gave me my very first Shakespeare book of sonnets, which I still treasure.

I have been writing ever since, I've lost count of the amount of poems I have written over the years, but that very first one, the fond memory of that one will always stay with me. I think I will post my very first poem here, even if it does sound like it was written by a child. smile

“Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing.”

14 Jul 2011

The first time I ever wrote something was when I was nine about the color yellow. Little did I know that I was going to get a diary a year later, and after that, enter a contest that got a poem published in an anthology. I knew from that point on that I wanted to become a writer.