It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time to convene another meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. Our host Alex J. Cavanaugh has gathered a wonderful bunch of co-hosts for this month: Joylene Nowell Butler, Jacqui Murray, Sandra Cox, and Lee Lowery.
Be sure to check out the IWSG website to find lots of writerly resources!
The question for this month is: Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn't around anymore? Anyone you miss?
Both of my parents are gone now. They were definitely the first to influence my desire to be a writer. Reading and writing were a part of my home since I can remember. Growing up, our shelves were filled with books. My parents usually had a book they would read during quiet moments after a long day of work. My mom also liked to write stories in her spare time.
I saw those books, and I thought whoever made them must have had super powers. The idea of creating those complex worlds and characters on the page seemed beyond comprehension, but I wanted to harness that power for myself if I could.
When I started scribbling my first stories on the page, my parents encouraged me. They would ask about what I was writing. When I told them that I wanted to write novels someday, they accepted that as a perfectly fine answer. I've heard so many stories of children being pushed away from creative endeavors by their parents. I was fortunate this was never the case for me.
My parents might both be gone now, but I still carry that legacy with me.
Who influenced and encouraged you?
That's awesome they encouraged you. I think it's important kids see their parents read. Mine always read.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were readers, as well. Going to the library as a child, with my own library card, was such an adventure! How wonderful that your parents encouraged you to harness those super powers!
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool that yur mom liked to write too and that both of your parents encouraged you to write.
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful your parent encouraged your writing.
ReplyDeleteMy parents, my father especially was a voracious reader. Every shelf bulged with books, and there were always several laying around that he was midway through.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, they were never particularly supportive of me being a writer. They said, "you'll never pay the bills with that!" which, to be fair, is true. But now that I've started to have a small, tiny, miniscule modicum of success they've started to open up more. My mom sold copies of my last book to everyone she knew (and many she didn't!)
A lovely post, Laura. I'm sorry your parents are both gone. They would've been so proud of you.
ReplyDeleteMy home was full of books growing up, too. It still is, as is my parents' home, haha. My mother was, and is, very supportive of my writing. Those first brushes with literature are so formative; I'm grateful mine were pleasant and plentiful.
ReplyDeleteThat's really neat that you're parents encouraged you to read and write. My parents encouraged me to read but they didn't encourage me to write fiction as much as your parents did you. They were more practical minded and so the writing they encouraged me to do was more technical or news journalism because it's what made a "sustainable income" (or at least did at one time). They didn't exactly discourage me to write fiction, but they didn't particularly encourage me to write it. Even so, in general they knew I was a skilled and talented writer and so encouraged it generally speaking.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome that your parents were like that!
ReplyDeleteSounds like many happy childhood memories.
Hope you had a good IWSG day! I was under the weather earlier this week (not the C👾vid, don't worry), but I'm much improved now.
I've been scheduling debut author interviews at Operation Awesome. If you know one, please tell them to reach out to me.
Over at the a-to-z challenge, plans are hatching for April 2022, including a big event this month (starts Feb 4).
Plus, WEP has the "All You Need is Love" flash fiction challenge on February 16 - 18.
Quote for February: “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” -John Bunyan
I'm glad you had the support of both your parents. It's so important to be encouraged towards things we enjoy and have a talent for when we're young. I had the same growing up and feel very lucky.
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