When did you start writing?

[T.A.]

Hmm, it's been so long. Almost since I could first remember I've been trying to make up stories. I had trouble learning to read as a kid but even then I was trying to tell stories through writing or by creating games with story lines in them. When I first began I partnered with other kids to author them with me but discovered I could work faster on my own. Also it helped me with getting better at reading:)

[Natasha]

I started writing detailed diaries in the late 1980s. In 1989/90 I was really struggling with my sexuality and became bulimic as a result.

In 1996 I started work on creating a diary-format book from my actual diaries. It was so much work that I kept putting it down for years at a time. Eventually published it via Amazon KDP in March 2012.

[Carole]

I started writing historical fiction as a way of cheering up my father in law after he had a massive stroke. I began writing about his experiences in WW2 and combined them with those of his then fiance who was a nurse throughout the Blitz. I then wrote a non fiction account which I was lucky enough to have published. I am still writing the saga based on their diaries but also writing military non fiction. Not sure which I enjoy writing most - they compliment each other and are different disciplines so its nice to swap from one to the other.

[Mhairi]

I guess I tried a few times from about the age of 11 onwards, but the first serious attempt at a novel (ie, starting it and finishing it) started in 2005, when I was 25. Finished it in 2009 (after leaving it and picking it up and leaving it and picking it up, etc, etc). It has since gone through a few incarnations, and will most likely eventually appear on my website as a comic strip.

Last year I had my first short story publication, my first self-published short story publication, and a novella published through a small press. Technically none of those were sales, but an editor is waiting on my current WIP which will be my fourth novel. Just hope she likes it :)

[Adam]

On and off for years!A friend of mine was in absolute stitches some months ago when she read a story that I'd written at primary school! It was dire! But the more serious stuff began about four years ago...

[Sharon]

The first story I remember writing was in either the 2nd or 3rd grade ... a story about a merry go round horse than turned into a real pony and I also drew the illustrations for it.

I've only published non-fiction articles (mostly about horses or livestock) although I do still play around with plot ideas occasionally.

The artwork has stayed with me however, I've maintained a part time 'business' for many years doing horse/dog/cat portraits for their owners as well as wildlife, old buildings, still life pieces with things like old cavalry saddles and horseshoes ... pretty much western type things ... and unicorns!

[Richard]

D.D. wrote: "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."

So I hope you didn't dump it, though. Coming back to it, after writing a few more, usually is a smart move. The things that pushed you to write it are still active inside, but with more experience, and more skill, you may be able to do some polishing that will make it work better. Never say die.

[Richard]

Like most of us, I wrote in school, then High school, then college, all of which was terrible. I began writing for pay as a copywriter and advertising designer in 1974, then moved on to grant and marketing proposals and focus/special interest articles. My first novel was begun from stories in my day-book when our 19 year business began to show strains in 2006. It was completed in 2009. Today, I have four of them available (Tow novels, two novellas) a few short stories on literary sites, and two more novels coming down the pike, probably more. It gets to be a compulsion after a while.

[Brian]

I wrote some songs and poetry as a teenager. I did not start writing novels until I retired several years ago...

[[deleted user]]

I've been writing in one form or another for all my life, but I only turned serious about 10 years ago. It started with 1 sweet romance and has taken off in all different directions since.

[Mhairi]

Sharon wrote: "The first story I remember writing was in either the 2nd or 3rd grade ... a story about a merry go round horse than turned into a real pony and I also drew the illustrations for it.

I've only publ..."

Awesome! Do you have a website or online portfolio somewhere? I love beautiful artwork, and I'm a sucker for horse and horse-related images, particularly unicorns! :D

[Sharon]

I started writing seriously in 2001. Have not looked back since.

[Sharon]

Mhairi wrote: "Do you have a website or online portfolio somewhere? I love beautiful artwork, and I'm a sucker for horse and horse-related images, particularly unicorns! :D "

The only thing I have at this point is photos up in on photobucket. I think this link will get you to that album. http://s233.beta.photobucket.com/user...

My current project is to get the artwork professionally scanned (home photography does not do well with pencil/graphite images) and get an online gallery page up and the blog updated.

[J.D.]

I still have my first story written when I was five. It lacks a storyline, has poor grammar, punctuation and spelling. Any trace of a dramatic arc is missing. The protagonist is a blue gerbil without a trace of compassion for the antagonist - an orange cat fond of gerbilcide. At least it's set in the alternate reality of a garden shed on the moon.

[Cheryl]

J.D. wrote: "I still have my first story written when I was five. It lacks a storyline, has poor grammar, punctuation and spelling. Any trace of a dramatic arc is missing. The protagonist is a blue gerbil witho..."

I love it, J.D.! You must have had quite the imagination when you were five. :D

I can still remember my first "full-length" novel, written back when I was in elementary school (can't remember my exact age right now). It was about 8-10 pages long and was about a bunch of kids trying to solve a mystery in their neighbourhood. I wish I still had it just to see how I wrote way back then.

[Richard]

I decided to measure my fiction writing career from the day I received my first royalty check -- it was for a whopping $12.47 and was received in November of 2009.

[David]

I started writing in elementary school. I remember I wrote a series of stories about a tiny robot called Joe Flintstone. He had a little bow tie that spun and allowed him to fly.

I didn't really dedicate myself to writing until about five or six years ago, though.

[J.D.]

Thanks, Cheryl! Sadly I've failed to recapture the freedom of the moment and a total lack of concern for the reader's inability to know the bits of the story still in my head :)

8-10 pages?! You must have been a prodigy! Rewrite it now and add another 200 pages - you will then become J.K. Rowling as if by magic :)

[Ian]

Reading about everyone's journey into writing is so cool! Mine's been a mix of tough times, unexpected twists, and a lot of love for storytelling.

Back in the late 1980s, I started pouring my heart into diaries. It was a way to make sense of things, especially when life got rough dealing with my sexuality and bulimia. Writing became my escape.

Then in 1996, I thought, 'Why not turn these diaries into a book?' It took years of work, but in 2012, I finally hit 'publish' on Amazon KDP. Such a surreal moment!

But that's not all. I stumbled into freelance writing, starting with https://carxstreetapk.com Developers. They liked my work and paid well! So, I'm still here, writing away. From diaries to freelance gigs, it's been a wild ride. Can't wait to see what's next!

How about you? How did you get into writing?

[sonya]

I started writing at six after my best friend’s death

[Ian]

Losing a best friend at such a young age must have been incredibly difficult.

[[deleted user]]

I always liked reading science-fiction stories and tried my hand a writing my first science-fiction novel at around sixteen (in French, my native tongue), then tried to have it published. Unfortunately, it didn't work and it kind of discouraged me for many years before I wrote one, then two other novels. However, that time I wrote them purely for the pleasure of writing and didn't try to publish them. That was when I realized that readership for French stories, even in Canada, was dwarved by English readership, so I translated my stories and used a small publishing house which publishes ebooks by new or unknown authors, Free-Ebooks.net. It didn't pay authors but also didn't make them pay for the costs of publishing, while registered readers of the site could download novels for a very minimal fee. My first novel was published by them in 2012 and I continued to publish more novels every few months and still do to this day. I haven't made any money with my novels (which is irrelevant for me, as I write purely as a hobby) but, with time and word of mouth, have gained a very respectable readership on that site, on top of making new friends around the World (total of 150,000+ downloads in twelve years). I am now writing my 44th novel and still enjoying it.

[Glen]

This is a bit deep, but I spoke with my Grandma for years about my book Rabbit Fever that I'd been planning on writing. We discussed the plot, the characters and often thought of ways to make the story better. Unfortunatley she passed away last year, but it prompted me to actually get on and write the book we discussed. I think she would have liked reading it, hope you do too!

[Locus]

When I started my very first site https://worldavatrpro.com

[Nik]

I started writing when I was five or six and it was dark for that age. I wrote about girls getting kidnapped and things that would make kids have nightmares about!

[Elyse]

Several times as a child but my first serious book that I was determined to finish when I was 19. it's finished now, but it involved years of extensive research and the completion of my Master's thesis using the same research material I'd been working on for my book. My Master's is in classical archaeology and this was my first historical novel taking place in ancient Rome. BTW the Master's achieved full grades, is 750 pages in length and is for sale in multiple published volumes. It achieved high commendation from the committee at my defense. Oh, and my other historical novel, also written recently, began as a poetic prose short story I wrote when I was 17. i took it out to publish it independently and it magically transformed into an epic historical novel, too. Now they are both first books of quadrilogies.