I've talked some about how I started writing on my Instagram account, but I want to go in depth here! I feel like my writing journey can be broken into three segments, each having a distinct feel to it, so there'll be three parts to this. I hope you enjoy!
I had never thought about writing, didn't realize it was even I thing I could do. I loved to read of course, but had just never given writing a thought before. Well, I was ten-years-old and doing my English in some random book my mom had gotten me (fellow homeschoolers, you know how it goes XP), and that day's assignment was to write a short little story. I had been reading The Boxcar Children series at the time, and wanted to write something with characters like that. So I got on our laptop and started writing it, about a page or so. In doing so I realized that I actually really enjoyed writing, and liked the feel of making up a story. I felt alive, like I could do anything I wanted to and create any story imaginable. I had found my "Spark", as they said in the Disney movie Soul.
Well, I ditched that English story thing I was writing and moved on to an actual book idea I suddenly had. (I actually never went back nor did I ever finish that school book, as one does) I started figuring out what I wanted it to be about, slaved over a title for way longer than I should have, and started writing. I wrote practically every single day, typing away at out old, slow, crappy laptop, loving every moment of it. I had never felt so amazing and free before, and I knew, at the age of ten, that I wanted to be an author. I knew it with such certainty, like God was telling me that this is what I was made to do–to create stories for readers to get lost in, and maybe find a part of themselves along the way.
My story was about this German orphan girl, Anelie, and it was written as her diary (thanks Dear America books for making me love that at the time). There's so many childish things in this that I cringe just thinking about it, but I wanted to share some of it with you guys so you can read my books now and see how far I've come. So first off, I had the document pages colored for whatever reason, I had the "scenes" end and start so many times, and literally had some one sentence entries in her diary. I knew I needed conflict and drama, but had nooo idea how, so I had her faint like five times trying to write out that a guy told her I love you. Like, what??? It's so stupid!
Here's a picture of the first two pages so you can cringe with me:
*cue embarrassment*
Anyway, I don't remember how long it took, maybe a few months, maybe almost a year, no clue, but soon I had finished my "book", Just Trust in God. In reality it was only 100 pages, 13,700 words long, but I felt like I had accomplished the most amazing thing in the world. And maybe I had. Because if I had never written that story, I would never have realized my love for writing.
When I finally finished it, I was so ecstatic and ran to my mom, telling her that I had written a book! I asked her if I could publish it, fully believing in my little story and that it didn't need any fixing. (Oh, how naive I was)
Mom, having just finished reading it and seeing all of my glaring misspellings, typos, and just awful, stupid content, said in such a kind and patient voice, "Why don't we focus on the grammar first?" I love her for saying that, because it didn't discourage me, she didn't say it was terrible, she just said why don't we focus on the grammar, giving me hope that I could publish it one day. I don't know if I could've been so openminded about it if I had been her, because that thing should never see the light of day. But to her, it was incredible for my age and she loved it, despite its many, many, many faults.
Well, we never did "focus on the grammar." We got busy, I started and stopped a few different ideas, but didn't stick with anything for long. Once I had finished Just Trust in God, I guess I was burntout and kind of fell out of the love of writing. I just didn't feel like doing it and couldn't get the motivation to sit back down at the laptop. Next thing I knew a year had passed, and I hadn't written anything more. That's where I'll pick up on My Writing Journey So Far (Part 2)!
I hope you're enjoying learning more about me, and remember, it doesn't matter how awful and crappy your writing is, you need to write those trash stories in order to cultivate your passion for writing and your skill. So don't give up!
–– Katie Marie