First Stories
by Tom Tripp
I've been amazed all along here on Write on The Water at the diverse talent of all these writers, and lately, of our guest authors as well. Since I can't ever seem to do anything without imagining the back-story of the activity – you know, when you're in a restaurant and looking around at all the people and imagining what their lives are – I wondered where they all got their start in writing. Did they start early? Were some latecomers to the party? Where did the spark come from? What was the first story they wrote?
We've talked here on WOTW about where authors get their story inspiration; how they fanned that creative spark of an idea into an ember and finally a roaring bonfire of a story. But how did they become writers in the first place? I'm hoping we can start a discussion here about first stories, artistic development and the origins of creativity. I'll start by inflicting upon you my first story.
Dorothy Gilman was a tall, prim woman, with rosy cheeks and silver granny glasses that contributed to the gentle old-maid impression she gave as the principal of my elementary school. The only thing most of us knew about the principal was that it was a bad thing to be sent to see her. So when my third-grade teacher passed out a ditto (remember those?) announcing an after-school "writing club," I was a little unsure. But Lisa Haag, the cute new girl in class that year was going, so I decided I'd go too. As I recall, we had big, sixth-grade chairs with armrest tables set up in the gym and Miss Gilman passed out writing pads and pencils and then gave us a writing prompt . Most vividly, I remember that successful completion of the task warranted a jumbo candy bar from the teacher. That was serious motivation.
While I can't recall too much about specific things that I wrote during our "writing club" sessions, I do remember feeling like I was a "Writer." That may have been somewhat premature, but the notion that I was already a writer served me well in many ways for the rest of my school days. Perhaps it was just the self-confidence that arose from believing I could do something, but I handled writing assignments and essay tests without fear and mostly successfully right through college.
Okay, so finally now, the actual first story I remember writing – "The Story of a Thanksgiving Turkey." The only record of this story is a rapidly fading "ditto" copy, but it is in my own handwriting. Apparently, I wrote it as a script for a play of some kind. As you can see in the photo above, there is a carefully written introduction of setting and characters. The main character is Tommy Turkey, who, with his brothers and sister (named after the cute girl in third grade) convinces the other turkeys at a local farm to go on diets in order to avoid becoming Thanksgiving dinners. Since most of you are unlikely to read it in its 5-page entirety, I will risk your ire and tell you that it has a happy ending that features a ham dinner (I guess I cared less about the pig's fate?).
The Story of a Thanksgiving Turkey by Tom Tripp
Do you remember your first story? The cute girl from third grade reminds me (yes, she's still my friend and she's an amazing writer and artist herself) that our "first" is sometimes what our parents decided to keep and call our first; and that we all probably created and told all kinds of stories much earlier than whatever early written attempt survives today. She can actually recite from memory a poem she wrote in that club.
Tell us your stories in the comments – happy endings are okay.
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