Ever since I was a little girl I remember writing and being fascinated with the English language. I think of stories I wrote in elementary and how I always enjoyed the creativity that came writing. As I travel back into my mind (and the boxes in my closet) I think I figured out what the first story I ever wrote was. It was grade two and I remember I took a paper folder from my Dad’s classroom. I filled the folder with empty papers and began to write.
I did not have the capabilities or creativity to think of characters so I pulled from people who were in my class. The story started with a girl in my class riding down to earth on a motorcycle. It proceeded to have multiple people in my class travel around town in hamster balls. Clearly, someone in second grade wrote it. I titled it Aliens and I remember having the hardest time spelling Aliens.
Even though it was not a good story I remember being so proud of it. I wrote a whole 5 pages and it felt like the biggest accomplishment. It took me weeks to write the entire thing. I ask my teacher questions like, “how do I change speakers, or how do it separate paragraphs.” I was eager to learn. I never finished the story because I learned the wonders of outlining. I outlined the next few pages but never went back to write them. It wasn’t until almost ten years that I rediscovered this story and it brought back so much joy to reread it.
Even though I was only a child when I wrote the story, I felt the sense that I knew what I was doing. I had a general idea of plot and it was remarkable because I hated to read so I came up with those concepts on my own. Yes, it was a story about aliens and my friend flew in on a motorcycle but it had the possibility of intrigue. All that really mattered was that I wrote it all on my own and I was so excited about it. Writing has always been in my blood from such a young age.
I think that is the key to writing. When I was a child I never wrote with the aspiration for a writing career. I just loved to write. I rediscover that passion when I read something I wrote as a child. That is when the spark comes alive again when I remember why I started writing.
Quote of the day: “Some days you put on pants and write thousands of words. Some days you stay in your pajamas scroll Instagram for hours, and do well to outline one scene. It’s called balance.”