It's the first Wednesday of the month again, so let's get started with another meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Alex J. Cavanaugh is our leader, and his minion helpers for this month are: Tamara Narayan, Tonja Drecker, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Lauren @ Pensuasion, Stephen Tremp, and Julie Flanders.
Be sure to check out the IWSG website!
I'm celebrating some good things this month. On Sunday, I finished the first draft of the third novella in my Self-Help 101 series. I'm planning on releasing Self-Help 101 or: How to Select a Costume to Help You Deal With People on September 27th.
Earlier this year I announced that I'd had a story accepted to the upcoming anthology Circuits & Slippers. This anthology features popular fairy tales told with a science fiction twist. It now has a Goodreads page that you can check out. The book is due to come out the last week of September, which happens to be the same week I'm releasing my next novella. That should be a busy and exciting week indeed!
Now it's time for me to answer the question of the month!
What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?
I can say this much. My first piece of writing as an aspiring writer could never be published. Not unless I become famous someday and decide to publish it to show people how it's possible to go from having no clue about how to tell a good story to achieving success through hard work and determination.
I wrote that first story when I was in 1st grade. It was long (120 pages, though my writing was large and I was using wide ruled paper) and rambling. I didn't know anything about how paragraphs and and punctuation worked, so it was largely unreadable. The story itself, from what I remember, involved hot pink snow, dinosaurs, airplanes, and flying saucers. I can't remember much else about the story line now, as it has been sitting, gathering dust, at my parents' house. I haven't looked at it for many years.
Though the story was terrible, I'm glad I wrote it. I'm glad that I wrote every awful story I did as a kid, because that helped me learn and grow as a writer. I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't written them.
What's your insecurity this month? What happened to your first piece of writing?
Yikes! 102 pages in 1st grade? Alas, I was still telling stories in pictures at that age, but hey, you did it. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteDon't eat the pink snow, either.
ReplyDeleteYou will be busy next month!
Dang, 120 pages in first grade! That's impressive. So are all the stories you have coming out soon. Kudos and write on.
ReplyDeleteYou are having an amazing summer! We are kindred souls - I was also a first grade author, same ruled paper, but nothing as impressive as 120 pages - although I also did illustrations. I had a flying wooden horse that was somewhat dragon-esque. Just a word of warning - Highlights Magazine won't print your stuff - not realistic enough.
ReplyDeleteWow, you wrote your first story in the first grade. That's fantastic. At that age, you were preparing to be the author you are today. That's something to be proud of.
ReplyDeleteShalom aleichem,
Patricia
Congrats on your story in the upcoming anthology.
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated by your first story. Pink snow and dinosaurs - wow!
That anthology sounds intriguing, congrats on being a part of it :)
ReplyDeleteWell done for remembering that much about your story from 1st grade - I have not clue what my stories at that age were about, I just know they had a tendency to be long (and possibly rambling) like yours ;P And it's great that your parents still have it, I don't think I have any writing from that far back. I have a filing cabinet drawer full of old stories though, some handwritten, some computer printouts and some typed on my beloved old typewriter that I used so much I bent the keys. It's good to have the old stuff to go back to and think, yes, I have always wanted to write, even if it was enthusiasm over quality. :)
ttfn,
Sophie
Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
You will be very busy next month. If you have time, come & visit me so we can share your good news. (dmburton72@gmail.com) 120pp in 1st grade? Wow! What perseverance. That has served you well.
ReplyDeleteHot pink snow, dinosaurs, airplanes, and flying saucers? All in one story? What a fabulous combination!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the Self-Help 101 series! Sounds like it's moving along!
Congrats on your story acceptance and on finishing your draft! What a great imagination you had in the first grade! Your story sounds intriguing to me. Might make a fun children's book someday.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so interesting how many of us have been writing since we first were learning our letters!
ReplyDeleteI also have my son's first "book" he wrote. (He's an even better writer than I am) We took it to Staples and had it bound. He is mortified when I pull it out now but I keep telling him someday it will be a collector item!