Thursday, July 15, 2010

Thoughts for Thursdays

Today's quote:

"I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don't know what I did before that. Just loafed I suppose" P.G. Wodehouse

The first story I can remember writing was when I was six. It was grade one, and we had to write a very short piece for our unique class project. We were hatching chickens. Yes. Real, live chickens. We had incubators set up in the classroom and each group of 5 or 6 had an egg assigned to them.

When he hatched, my story was about Clutzy, the little yellow baby chick with the blue dot on his head. We wrote the stories up, illustrated them, and they were taken to our school's "copy" room for printing and publishing. Really, the little leaflets just came back laminated and nicely binded, but hey, we were six--this was a very big deal, and it made us feel extremely important.

I think I still have it somewhere. If I can find it, I will scan and post it for you guys.

How old were you when you first realized you wanted to write? When did you write your first story and what was it about?

16 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I was a teen. Wrote a few short stories and even began working on a novel - one that eventually became my upcoming book. (Although it's nothing like the original story.)

JE said...

Six? Wow. It's good to get an early start though. I've realized most of my writer friends started at an early age.

I was 28 (which was just last spring) and I hadn't thought about writing before then, really. I had a story in my head for two years, not really sure what to do with it. Then I wrote it down. Voila! Now I'm here. ;-)

~JD

Unknown said...

First, let me say hello and thanks for finding my blog. And look! I'm your 100th follower! *throws confetti*

I'm not surprised to learn you recognized your craft as early as six. Your writing style is immediately engaging, based on what I've read in your profile and this post. I'm going to enjoy reading more from you!

I, too, can say I've always been a writer. If I had a shred of direction in my childhood, I'd still have the volumes of diaries and journals I penned throughout my life. Sadly, all the pre-college graduation journals are forever gone. I do remember winning second place in New York State's Daughters of the American Revolution Essay Contest. I was in the fifth grade. That work, too, is lost.

It wasn't until 2007 that I decided to begin writing for an audience, and by that I mean writing with the intention of inviting others to read my work. As soon as my first reader critique came in, (very favorable, thank goodness), I was hooked. I've lived a writer's life ever since.

Can you tell I've missed writing after being on vacation for three weeks? Sorry for the novel comment! I'm off to write my own blog post. See you there?

*smiles* Nicole

Touch of Ink said...

I was in first grade, so I was probably 6. I theorized that snails were near sighted because they crawled to the wall before turning, instead of turning before they got to the wall.

I wrote a story about a far sighted snail. He got elected president by the other snails :)

Hannah said...

I've been writing since I've been able to write. And it hasn't really been a conscious choice until recently. It was just something I did, like breathing. Now I'm writing to finish, to publish and not just random snippets of thoughts, dreams and ideas.

Stephanie Lorée said...

I wrote my first story when I was 3. This is one of my distinct early memories as I recall sitting at my mother's coffee table while my grandmother baby-sat me. I was all dressed up in my cowgirl outfit and decided to write an autobiographical (though I had no idea what it was called) picture book.

I asked my grandma, "How do you spell hatched?" I drew a picture of a little cowgirl coming out of an egg, and below it I wrote, "And then I was hatched." The book was entirely made of crayon and eventually my grandma helped me bind it with a hole puncher and some yarn.

You see, I didn't know where babies came from, and my mother at the time was raising exotic birds. So, I had seen bird babies born. I just assumed I was hatched too.

My mother still has that book somewhere in her attic. :)

Janet Johnson said...

Congrats on hitting 100 by the way. :)

I remember entering an essay in a contest in 3rd grade (so 8?), but I didn't know I wanted to be a writer until I was 23ish or so.

Joanne said...

I've been writing since my school days, too. A favorite poem in 4th grade, a winning class essay in Jr. High. But I didn't realize I was a writer until after my children were born. Maybe having children gave me a different perspective on life, and so I turned to writing.

Theresa Milstein said...

Such a funny quote!

I always loved writing classes and assignments, but never made room for writing as a real option until I was an adult.

I hope you find your chick piece!

Sarah Callejo said...

Now I feel so inexperienced. I only started to write last year!!

Aubrie said...

Your chicken story sounds so cute! I hope you do find it and post it for us!

The first thing I wrote was a melancholy poem about unicorns!

Southpaw said...

I didn’t know if I actually knew I wanted to write. I just wrote. I wrote a lot of stories starting in grade school.

WritingNut said...

Alex - That's wonderful that you stuck with your idea and saw it through - it really paid off :)

Justine - NO way! You write like you've been doing this for years! And you have more knowledge than I've racked up since I was six!

Nicole - Welcome!! And thank you so much for stopping by and for your kind words!!! I'm sorry you don't have them anymore :(, but on the bright side, it's wonderful that you were able to become reacquainted with what you were born to do :). And definitely, I shall be over soon!

Suzi - Awww, that is SUCH a cute story, and very advanced for six years old!

Hannah - I'm so proud of you - keep at it!

Mesmerix - How adorable! I hope YOU can find that and post it one day - I would love to see :)

Janet - Thank you very much! I used to love writing essays too :)

Joanne - It's amazing how life can inspire you when you least expect it to :)

Theresa - I love it too! I will try to look for it this weekend.

Sarah - Don't feel that way at all! It's not how long you've been writing, it's the quality - and you are an amazing writer with so much knowledge to share :)

Aubrie - Thank you! I hope I do too! I would love to read your poem too, do you still have it?

Holly - Sometimes we stumble upon our destinies without even having to search for them :)

Tabitha Bird said...

I have always been writing. I don't remember when I realized that writing was a 'want' of mine. That was probably quite recently. I was seven when I wrote a play about Garfield. I thought it was very cool. :)

Jan Cline said...

I was in the 3rd grade. My teacher submitted a poem I wrote to a kids magazine and it got published. Ive been writing ever since. That was 47 years ago! Still love it.

Talei said...

Congrats on the big One OH OH!

I was a serious bookworm as a kid, always had my nose in a book, no matter what was going on around me. I think around 9 or 10yrs old was when I recall trying to write stories. And its been on/off until this year when I decided that it was time to actually pen a proper MS.

Thanks for the follow back on my blog. And happy writing!! ;-)))