When did you start writing?

[K.C.]

I'm curious as to when everyone started writing. Not scribbles on paper, but when was the first time you sat down and said "I'm about to create a story, a world, a universe, that I want people to know about"?

[Margaret]

Interesting question. I wrote poetry in high school, started writing more around 20 years ago when my wife and I first hooked up, but I didn't start writing poetry seriously until 2005, when I wrote a poem I wanted to keep. Things snowballed from there. I signed up for and attended a free online writers conference where I "met" someone who ran a writers forum -- fiction and poetry both. This was mid-2006. I started writing fiction because I had to join both forums. Then I wrote a book about a boy whose mother dies in a fire and spent the next couple of years learning enough about fiction writing to rewrite it. It's due out something this year.

In 2010 I wrote a sci fi novel for Nano and it was published last July. I'm also author of a poetry book and co-author with five other women of a poetry anthology.

I never set out to be a writer .. my big decision career-wise was whether or not to become a professional musician (I decided no). I fell into writing and got hooked.

[Shelly]

I started writing little skits and stories with friends in junior high school. I began my first real book when I was 15, and I was hooked.

[Pauline]

I wrote my first historical novella around six years ago. That sits dusty in the closet. My first full length novel was completed around four years ago and is currently in editing with Loose Id. I pulled it out of the closet for giggles and submitted it to my publisher and they took it! I was shocked.

[Andrew]

I was six. It was a sequence of two short stories about a superhero who had a road drill on his head. He may have been called Road Driller. It was pretty freaking rad.

[Andrew]

I used to write poetry for the girls at infants school (age 5-6). That extended into class and I remember writing a piece called "Malicious Moggy, The Carnivorous Cat" at the age of 7.

Excluding schoolwork, I used to do comic strips through my teens; my first attempt at a novel in my late teens; short stories whilst at university and my first complete novel - a political comedy called Others - at 29. My first accepted novel was written two years later, although it's taken almost another ten years to get properly out there.

[D.D. Chant]

I was 14 when I started my first full length novel. Four years and 90.000 words later and I finally had to face the fact that it wasn't good enough to publish.

[Bryn]

Spent high school exchanging stories with my best friend -- scribbling them in class. At university (the first time) I was doing the same, writing stories during lectures, as I couldn't keep away from them for one hour. Had to drop out and go again later. The question might be when I become conscious of the world of publishing.

[Patricia]

Even when I was a kid, I wanted to be an author, but I was useless at school. I got behind in class after spending some time in hospital and it seemed no one would listen to me. I wrote all the naughty, mischievous things that my friend and I did in a diary. Years later, when my children had left home and I no longer had to work full time, I decided to learn how to become an author. But first, I had to learn how to write properly. I left school at fourteen still not knowing where to put commas, or how to spell.

At the age of fifty-three, I joined an online critique group and all the wonderful writers all over the world taught me the rules of writing, critiquing, and where to put commas. I was then able to turn my childhood diaries into fictitious children's stories, as well as write new stories. I taught myself to draw my own illustrations and then self-published four children's books. This Christmas, I self-published my first Y/A Paranormal Love Story and I'm now writing the sequel.

Many of those authors who taught me to write are now my friends on Goodreads and FaceBook, and I'm so grateful to all of them. Thank you. ♥


http://www.amazon.com/Patricia-Puddle...

[A.L.]

Hmm not sure, I wrote poetry at school and as I was quite good I used to get asked to write for the school display etc, which was quite funny as I have terrible handwriting.

Stories I suppose was fan fic and for school. I remember a book we had to read- The Long And The Short And The Tall and we had to write a follow up. I ended up doing this whole play for it. Was very sad, good book btw.

Other than that probably when I started DMing for games.

[Yzabel]

I wrote silly unicorn short stories when I was 8-10, but started really creating worlds of my own when I was 11-12. I've never stopped since, but unfortunately I'm so whimsical and ADD-ish that I never get to finish anything. *sigh* Someday, I'll really have to kick myself for good.

[Harrison]

I was twelve, my influences were varied, but the language was very Enid Blyton-esque. The 40,000 word thriller will never see the light of day, sadly.

[Abigail]

To break the norm here - I didn't start writing until I was 34. Six years later I sold a manuscript (and one yet to be written (at the time; it's written now)) to Grand Central.

[Alex]

My mother used to write stories for me and my siblings when we were very small, and I'm sure that had an influence on me. When I was four years old I wrote a story about a cat, and my father (who was a gifted amateur artist) bound it and painted a beautiful watercolour cover for it.

As for many others here though, the creative process really started at school (I went to a boarding school for a while, and after the lights were turned out at night I used to make up stories to entertain my friends).

That said, I didn't really consciously start to write (to answer your question K.C.) until I was twenty-two (in 1985) and struggling to find my first job, and it occurred to me that if I returned to my love of story-telling then I could say (if asked) that I was a writer! My first serious attempt at a novel was a hand-written historical fiction about the life of a gold ring. Shortly after it had passed the thirty thousand word mark I got a job, and it took me another ten years to finish it. By that time, I'd learned so much about writing that I realised that I'd have to re-write it from scratch, but instead of doing that I started on a whole string of other projects, none of which ever reached a publisher or potential agent.

Then, in 2006 I started to write The Testing of Archie Rathbone. It took me another five years to finish the first draft, and eventually I self-published it last year.

[Jared]

October, 1998.

I was 13 years old and haven't looked back since.

[Jacqueline]

I was 15 and started writing after I read Barbara Hamley for the first time. I wrote a half dozen novels through jr. high and high school and have been writing ever since. Even went to college for my creative writing degree. That was almost 25 years ago.

[Justin]

I started writing poetry when I was in high school, when bored in class I wrote a poem and then I started writing poetry more frequently. It wasnt until recently that I started to write stories. Prior, the only stories I wrote were in school and when i was ten I wrote a ten page paper about the power rangers just for fun but im sure that wasnt anywhere close to my style of today. Recently I have become more open to writing in different styles.

[Marília]

I remember writing a short comic-book style cat story when I was a kid, and when I lived in the US for a year (when I was 6), the school had an assignment where we could write a book and someone could illustrate it for us. It's one of the few things I remember... But I started writing stories - real stories - in high school, when I was 16, because of a class assignment. That was 14 years ago. I got kind of carried away after that, and started writing during classes - all throughout college, too.
I never tried to get anything published until recently, but I've been writing for years, so I have a lot of catching up to do. :)

[Andrew]

I never tried to get anything published until recently, but I've been writing for years, so I have a lot of catching up to do. :)

I think most authors are like icebergs - there's a lot more under the surface than the published works that are visible above.

[D.J.]

I use to hate reading and writing, and spent most of my time drawing as a kid. Then we had an assignment in middle school to write a short story. I fell in love and have been writing constantly ever since. Finally got my first book published "The Worst Misery"

Available at amazon in paperback and ebook

http://www.amazon.com/The-Worst-Miser...

Also fel free to check out my facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/D-J-Le...

Thanks

D. J. Lemarr

[Martin]

When a classmate all the way back in eighth grade said I had no idea what it took to write a short story or novel. Got my short piece for language arts turned into a school play just a few weeks later. The kid had to watch the play too. It was mandatory. That's like a double punch combo to the nuts.

Ah, the beautiful driving power of doubt and skepticism. There's nothing like it... well, except for the power of the double nut punch combo.

M. Reed

[K.C.]

Very cool to see so many responses. Writers are as diverse, actually moreso, than most groups of creatives I know.

For me, it started in middle school. I wrote an anthology with three stories: one action, one horror, one sci-fi. I also wrote mini movies that I got the kids at school together to shoot on one of those old camcorders you had to rent from Blockbuster (yes, I'm dating myself!).

In high school, I wrote a play that was performed. The first time my high school had ever done that. It was then though that I read Imajica by Clive Barker and my world was changed forever.

In '99 I started writing Paris which was probably in hindsight not the best idea to have your first novel be a 700+ page, metaphysical epic. It took years for me to finish after starts and stops, rewrites and restarts.

So I guess I've had many starts to my creative literary life.

[Jenelle]

I wrote a short story about my brother when I was 7.

I began but never finished a story about a girl and a horse sometime in grade-school.

I wrote and completed a 50-page or so novel in jr. high for a friend's birthday.

I co-authored a sci-fi book in highschool with my best friend. It was in high school that I also began writing poetry.

I wrote 4 novels in college, which I am now in the process of editing and publishing, while writing a new series and brainstorming for the next idea after this series is finished.

I guess you could say writing has been a life-long pursuit... :)

[E.D.]

There are so many interesting people here.

I wrote a book five years ago and a follow up a year later. I sent out queries to every agent on the planet and got more rejections than I care to remember, so I let the project simmer on the back burner for a couple of years (my kiddies were still little at the time). Last year, I starting writing another book in the series. I just self-published my Trilogy on Amazon last month.

Wow, Jenelle, you started writing at 7? That is impressive. Good luck with the editing process. It's tidious, isn't it?

[Patricia]

K.C. wrote: "Very cool to see so many responses. Writers are as diverse, actually moreso, than most groups of creatives I know.

For me, it started in middle school. I wrote an anthology with three stories: one action, one horror, one sci-fi. I also wrote mini movies that I got the kids at school together to shoot on one of those old camcorders you had to rent from Blockbuster (yes, I'm dating myself!).

In high school, I wrote a play that was performed. The first time my high school had ever done that. It was then though that I read Imajica by Clive Barker and my world was changed forever.

In '99 I started writing Paris which was probably in hindsight not the best idea to have your first novel be a 700+ page, metaphysical epic. It took years for me to finish after starts and stops, rewrites and restarts.

So I guess I've had many starts to my creative literary life. "

K.C, you are multi talented. Have you thought of turning Paris into an eBook, too? You would get more readers and reviews.

[[deleted user]]

1991. Stopped writing completely in 2001 when all of my work vanished due to a computer virus. Ten years of work down the drain. Was so discouraging I didn't put pen to paper again until 2008. I'm slowly rewriting everything I'd lost, most of it was in hard copy. Also working on a lot of new stuff.

There was no one thing that compelled me to start writing. I'd been a voracious reader since I was seven and had ventured briefly into literary efforts in high school, backing away when I was publicly ridiculed by a current events teacher. I've often wondered what my life would have been like had I dug in my heels instead of folding. Oh well. Live and learn.

[Troy]

Writing seriously, I would say about 3 years ago when I finally made the leap and wrote my first novel.

[Sherri]

I've really written my whole life, but I'd say I buckled down and got serious 12 years ago.

[J.S.]

My earliest "stories" date from when I was in kindergarten, but I started writing seriously when I was about 12 or 13.

[M.R.]

Second grade.
Of course, looking back, I don't think I had any concept of publication. I just sort of pictured myself handing off my countless black-and-white composition notebooks to various readers who would presumably disregard my atrocious penmanship. Incidentally, I refused to write on loose leaf paper, because in my head, a bound notebook was the nearest I could come to "making a book." Anything else was just pretending.
I also wrote on manila paper and rolled it into 'scrolls,' convinced that it was totally the same thing as parchment.

[K.C.]

It's available for Kindle but I think that I need to convert over the eFormat for GoodReads.

There's an anthology out too called The Immanent World that I put together with eight other artists. Gonna move things along the next few months.

Thanks for the compliments.

Patricia wrote: "K.C. wrote: "Very cool to see so many responses. Writers are as diverse, actually moreso, than most groups of creatives I know.

For me, it started in middle school. I wrote an anthology with three..."

[Patricia]

K.C. wrote: "It's available for Kindle but I think that I need to convert over the eFormat for GoodReads.

There's an anthology out too called The Immanent World that I put together with eight other artists. Go..."

K.C, I just 'Liked' your page on Amazon Kindle edition. You should add some Tag words, too, that helps with your ranking and visibility. Then others can tag you, too.

http://www.amazon.com/Paris-The-Dark-...

[Jeanette]

It seems I've been writing since I could hold a pen. I had 4 complete stories and a mind full of many more when I asked myself this question, 'What am I waiting for?'
I now have 3 novels published, a fourth almost done, and many more on the horizon. Writing is my passion.

[Karen]

The first fiction I remember writing was a novel I started as a gift for the 5th grade teacher I adored. It was supposed to be a secret, but I told a substitute teacher and she spilled the beans :-(. I finished it nevertheless -- 200 penciled pages, with 100 2-page chapters. . . . The title misused the word "autobiography" (I should have used "biography").

[Karen]

(re message 16) Alex, I'm intrigued by the idea of the story of a gold ring! If you go back to it, let us know!

Alex wrote: "My mother used to write stories for me and my siblings when we were very small, and I'm sure that had an influence on me. When I was four years old I wrote a story about a cat, and my father (who w..."

[Karen]

(re message 32) M.R., I had a very slightly more sophisticated idea of publishing in 5th grade. My mother (bless her!) typed up my 200 penciled pages, copied them, and bound them in report covers -- which satisfied me for the moment. . . .

M.R. wrote: "Second grade.
Of course, looking back, I don't think I had any concept of publication. I just sort of pictured myself handing off my countless black-and-white composition notebooks to various reade..."

[Jenn]

I was about 11 when I decided I was going to write a book. I loved Nancy Drew mysteries so I wrote a mystery of my own and illustrated it for a school project. It was called "Key to the Blue Moon."

Prior to this I'd done pretend newspapers and a lot of very bad fan fiction type stuff. This was back before "fan fiction" existed, because I am old. Most of it involved the Dukes of Hazzard and the A-Team. (Sometimes even together.) :)

I wrote a few mystery novels going forward-- all of them are things that I would only share for their accidental humor value.

[Jenelle]

M.R. wrote: "I also wrote on manila paper and rolled it into 'scrolls,' convinced that it was totally the same thing as parchment. "

That's awesome! :)

E.D. wrote: "Good luck with the editing process. It's tidious, isn't it? "

Yes, I have a love/hate relationship with editing. However, having a good editor (or two, or three) helps!

[John]

Yeah... wow! That is an interesting question. I started writing, just for my own enjoyment, about 30 years ago. I actually did this stuff on a typewriter, in the days before anyone ever heard of word processing. I wrote what I most liked to read -- Science Fiction. As of last year, I had four complete novels written (and three more partially written), but had never attempted to publish any of them. I'd written a couple of short stories, which I sent off to various SF magazines, but none of them were accepted. I used to joke that I was a professional writer, and had rejection slips to prove it; but I never did more than that.

Until last year... when I gave a copy of one of my novels to a friend on the web who is a magazine editor (business publications, not SF). After reading it, he asked to read another one, and another one... and finally told me I REALLY needed to publish them.

OK, I said... one fan does not a bestseller make; but I struck a deal with Mill City Press, and now the first novel is out there. If all goes well, I'll publish the second one this year.

Writing is still fun, and I'm still working on the unfinished novels; but getting published is a lot more work than I imagined it would be.

[Contel]

I wrote my first book at the age 15, but I was writing short stories long before then ... like elementary school days.

I published (self) my first book in 2002, then in 2007-08, went on a hiatus of sorts to establish myself as a freelance writer.

Now I'm back with a few new books trying to once aqain make some noise as an author. I still do freelancing, and doing both is proving to be the biggest challenge I've ever been faced with. But I'm up for it ... I think.

[Grady]

My first real story, I started in first grade; I never finished it, largely because the manuscript disappeared for many, many years. (I only found it again two years ago!)

My first novel, I started in high school. The world was something I'd been building on throughout my childhood from various real-world experiences and such, and I decided it was high-time to sit down and tell a story that took place in that world. Of course, after plotting it all out, I came out with a six-book saga spanning a majority of the history of the world. I only finished book one after many years letting it bake, in 2010.

[Alex]

I wrote some interesting stuff in high school, and had a lot of false starts since then. I got about 80 pages into a mystery roughly five years ago but got stuck. There's a happy ending on that one, though.

With a "milestone" birthday rushing up on me, I finally decided I wasn't going to accept failure. I started writing with a great deal of seriousness at the end of June 2012. By the time 2012 ended, I'd finished and published two full-length novels (100,000+ words), along with a novella (about 25-30,000 words).

That story that had me stumped several years ago? I tossed it out, and wrote it from scratch for NaNoWriMo. And finished. I may never publish it, since I'm devoting any and all writing time to my series, but I can honestly say I finished that one, too.

Two interesting observations. First, once I finished the first novel, I suddenly found I had so many ideas for books that I could easily write full time for the next several decades without fear of finishing them all. Second, the most enjoyable experience I've had are the many friends and family who've admitted that they've had a story they've wanted to write for some time, and seeing me finish mine has given them the confidence to start writing theirs.

[Aleathea]

The first memorable spark for me happened during my first year in college. Our English professor asked each of us to write about our favorite place. Most wrote about various locations they'd been/visited. I wrote about the place behind my mother's knees where I used to like to curl up when she was lying on her side. My writing caught my professor's attention. I guess it caught mine too.
Aleathea Dupree

[Jerry]

Andrew wrote: "I was six. It was a sequence of two short stories about a superhero who had a road drill on his head. He may have been called Road Driller. It was pretty freaking rad."

What the heck is a road drill, LOL?

[Jerry]

My writing had a genesis perhaps less noble than many. I always aced English and always got an "A" on my term papers. One day a classmate walked up and said, "Hey, I'll give you fifty bucks to write my term paper." Thus was born my writing career, and business boomed throughout high school.

I was also an avid reader but I grew up, got busy, and didn't read a novel for fifteen years. I picked up a copy of THE FIRM in an airport, started reading it on the plane, and was instantly re-hooked. After a year or so, I thought, "Hmmm, maybe I could do this?"

[J.L.]

I wrote a series (illustrated) in 2nd grade. The Funny Bunny series, including climbing Mount Everest which was a big deal then. Wrote short illustrated stories in fifth grade, but by 9th, I was writing both non-fiction and fiction pieces. 12th grade creative writing class really sent me on my way in writing poetry and short stories. A thesis in college was serious work that laid the foundation for my non=fiction writing which has been published, but I didn't write my first novel until 20 years go.

[Sherri]

Not long after I turned 30.

[John]

Sherri wrote: "Not long after I turned 30."

Me too... but I'm not saying how long ago that was :-)

[Leigh]

I was eight. It was a short story about a witch and her cat, and I made it a "hardcover book" with cardboard and Crayola crayons. ;-)

[Sarah]

It is interesting to read all the comments. Many have been writing since early elementary, or at least had interest since then. Not me.

While I have always had a pencil in my hand, I drew instead. Extraordinary circumstances recently changed my life. Stubbornly trying to make the best of the situation, a friend encouraged me to put words to the pictures I couldn't draw anymore. This was how Left on the Edge was created.