Origins Blogfest

First off I'm in Cupid's Literary Connection: Blind Speed Dating Contest. Please stop by. There is some amazing competition.

I'm loving these blogfests. I've been meeting amazing people. Thank you to all my new followers :) I hope not to bore you.

This weeks blogfest Origins hosted by D L Hammond, Katie Mills, Alex Cavanaugh and Matthew MacNish. I found it on Alex's blog and accidently signed up under the name of this post and not the name of my blog. This is what happens when I do things before I finish my coffee.

On Monday, February 13th, post your own origin story. Tell us all where your writing dreams began. It could be anything from how you started making up stories as a child, or writing for the school newspaper, or even what prompted you to start a blog. How about stories about the first time somebody took an interest in your writing, or maybe the singular moment when you first started calling yourself a writer. It all started somewhere and we want you to tell us your own unique beginnings.

Where do I start? The first 'book' I ever wrote was a picture book, I did the illustrations (it was awful), and it was called The New Baby. I was six and the story is about a girl who is jealous of her new baby brother. This would make sense if I had a baby brother. I don't. I have one brother and he's two years older than me so I have no idea where this story came from.  

In fourth grade I wrote a poem and my teacher sent it into the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans and my poem was accepted. My fifth grade teacher also submitted one of my poems and that was also accepted. I am not a poet but this helped pave the way for me to begin extending my ideas into longer formats.

In fifth grade I won the D.A.R.E. essay contest and was asked to read it at an assembly with the entire fifth grade and our parents. I had to wear the black shirt with D.A.R.E. written in red and I decided to pair it with a hot pink skirt and hot pink tights. Yeah I don't know what I was thinking.

In sixth grade I attempted my first novel. A book about the Battle of Salamis in Ancient Greece. I got to seventeen pages and all my classmates were in awe. This would become one of the many ideas I started and never finished.

In eighth grade we put together a book called the Scribbler. In it were illustrations, short stories and poems. About six or seven of my poems made it to the final product. All of which are embarrassing poems that make me cringe to this day. I wish I could find all copies and set them on fire :)

In eleventh grade I took my first Creative Writing class. I was so excited when we had to exchange short stories with a classmate. My piece was amazing. I knew whoever read it would love it. The girl gave it back to me and wrote that the first paragraph description was tedious. To this day I hate the word tedious.

Twelfth grade I was more concerned with cutting school and going to the mall. I didn't write much at all other than a few depressing poems about love. It wasn't until a few years later that I discovered a site online where you could share your writing and people could comment on it. I posted a few poems and got some feedback and then one day I decided I wanted to write a book. I was determined. And for the first time in my life I wrote an entire book. I also received amazing feedback on the site. People whether they liked the writing or not, loved the story. One girl told me she stopped reading Twilight so she could read my story. I was a huge Twilight Freak at the time and that made my heart melt.

The story was loosely based on me and my friends when we were fourteen and I loved it so much I decided the story needed to continue. The story continued into four books. The fourth book I never finished. It's chapters away from being complete, but since the previous books are riddled with beginner writer mistakes, I put it aside. One day I hope to revise the crap out of it and give it another shot. These books were the first time I experienced voices in my head and characters wanting to takeover as I typed. And even if these books never see the light of day, I credit them with where I am today and they will always be special to me.

So what's your story? What was the moment you said, "This is it! I'm a writer?"

* I forgot to mention that Twilight had a part in getting my mind back into wanting to be a writer. You can judge me if you'd like, but after reading the books and being captivated by the story I was inspired. Thanks Juliana for reminding me :)