Once I discovered that I was a more word oriented person than that of numbers, I accepted writing as a way to express myself. Many small things have influenced who I am as a writer. I have faced many obstacles with my writing so far, but that only pushes me to persevere. We have a love- hate relationship, if you must give it a title. For the majority of the time, writing out the thoughts and feelings I have is the best way I can deal with them. Getting these intangible ideas from my mind onto paper, where I can see it, helps me sort through them better. Other times, I get flustered with my writing. I over think, over analyze, and criticize myself more than is needed. I feel an author’s work is best when it is not thought about, planned, or discussed. Writing is most beautiful when it is created without trying, when it just feels right. That is one of the most important things I have learned so far along my journey as a writer. Letting the words write themselves brings can bring out thoughts we never knew we had, and create things we we’re aware we were capable of. That is the beauty of writing. Possibilities are endless.
When I was little I certainly had no aspirations to be any sort of writer. Like the typical young girl I wanted to be a vet, a teacher, an artist, or something along those lines. Realizing now that every girl during elementary school hadn’t the slightest clue about the world around them or what they wanted to be when they grew up, I see how naïve I was. Being that young I didn’t know that it was important to be your own person. My infant mind couldn’t grasp the concept of being independent. I just went along with what I was told and who I thought I was supposed to be. Now that the maturity has kicked in, my plans for my future are less hazy. I am in the process of creating myself and becoming and independent individual. I don’t just want to be another vet or teacher like any grade school girl will tell you. I want to make a difference and I want to do it through writing because I believe my words will have an impact on someone, somewhere, somehow along the way.
My earliest memory of writing is from kindergarten. I must give thanks to my teacher Mrs. Taylor for teaching me the alphabet which makes all of the writing I ever compose possible. Once we covered saying and writing all of the letters in kindergarten, it was time to put them together into something understandable. In Mrs. Cahill’s first grade class we spent time learning about the writing process. We planned, wrote, edited, and illustrated a story of our own. Our stories were even “published”. We invited our parents to an “Authors Tea” to share our hard work. Even though I was only a first grader, I remember the sense of accomplishment I had reading aloud a story I had wrote on my own. I guess you could say this was my first “big break” in the world of literature. I believe I subconsciously made a note of the good feelings writing gave me even at such a young age and such a minor task. Now, these feelings of pride, sense of accomplishment, and self-worth when I write cannot be abandoned.
Seventh grade was when I started to take writing seriously. I viewed writing completely different than I ever had before and it changed my life for the better. It was an outlet for all of my feelings and emotions. Being honest, my experience during my last two years of middle school was not exactly something I will remember fondly. Emotions and stress ran high. There were a lot of quick, unexpected changes and situations I was thrown into that I had never faced before. There were times I had no one to turn to when I wished to talk out my feelings. Thus, a writer was born. At first, writing was just venting out my thoughts on paper so that they wouldn’t eat away at my mind all day and night. I incorporated some of my emotions into poetry. I would go about my normal day, then when it was time for bed I would stay up and just write. Poems and pieces of stories would be created without any effort. Then, it evolved into something more. My words meant something to me and I wished for them to mean something to other people. Then, I began writing with a purpose
When I discovered writing was a good way of expression, I decided to really test my ability with all different kinds. I talked to my friend Kate about it and found out she was really interested in my writing. I shared a few of my poems with her and some of my other friends and discovered they actually liked them. This was my motivation to keep writing and eventually I decided to begin writing a short novel. Once I began writing, my current situation with my relationships came out in the story. For me, I guess it’s easiest to write what I know. My friends read my work as I wrote and constantly asked when I was going to write more and what was going to happen in the end. It’s safe to say it wasn’t that bad for my first story on my own. I even tested the waters in song writing. That was not as successful as my other creations, so I think I will steer clear of that genre. Overall, having my friends support has really influenced my writing and motivated me to stick with it.
In my final year before entering high school, my Language Arts teacher assigned a huge poetry project. Unlike the rest of the class, I was thrilled. Poetry being my strong suit, I knew I would have no problem composing a few pieces for this assignment. The task was to read eight poems, then recreate our own poem using the original authors same theme, tone, and form, but make it personal to us. I’m glad my teacher decided to assign that rather than to just ask for 8 original poems. It always fun to be challenged. You’ll never know what you’re capable of if you aren’t presented with something to overcome. I was really proud of the work I produced during the poetry unit of class that year. I ended up giving my poetry book to my Gran for her birthday last year. She loved it and has been interested in my writing ever since. This kind of support from the people I love is valuable to me. Without it I would not be the kind of writer I am today. It’s true that I am still growing as a writer, but through my maturing I seek the love and support of those around me to keep me motivated.
These memorable points along the short path into my writing career have influenced not only my writing voice, but also me as a person. The ups and downs I have conquered have created an enhanced version of me. Writing gives me strength, security, and something to be proud of. Only fifteen years old, I have not yet had much experience with writing. I believe that this class is really going to get my creative juices flowing. I feel like it is going to really open me up to writing more than anything has before and make me more confident in myself. This class is definitely going to test my abilities and challenge my dedication to writing. Although the exposure I have had is obsolete to that of a published author I dream to be one day, I understand that they were once on this same journey I am embarking on now. Beginning slowly and unsure of oneself, and hopefully ending successful and confident.