I have always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was a kid.
I started reading adult books in 3rd grade when I read “Woman Without a Past” by Phyllis A. Whitney — I got it from my mother’s bookshelf, and I actually still have the same book today. In 5th grade, I read my first Stephen King book (Cujo), and I remember my 4th and 5th-grade teacher Mr. Reardon (who I am actually Facebook friends with today), who really made writing a fun part of my education. I think that is when my interest in writing REALLY began.
I always felt very creative and full of ideas. My brothers and I grew up without a lot of other kids in our neighborhood, so we had to keep ourselves occupied with our imaginations. I can’t tell you how many “forts” and “houses” we created with old plywood and boards, or even just in some overgrown thicket in our yard. The area between the Lilac bushes and the front porch, I always imagined was a mobile home trailer.
But the full-blown worlds and storylines we came up with together were so intricate, that I can still remember many of them today, nearly 30 years later. I think growing up the way we did really gave us a wonderful opportunity to exercise our imaginations and really push the limits of our creativity.
My brother is also a writer, and arguably a much better writer than me. Our styles are quite different and he has been actively writing much longer than me.
For me, I struggled for all of these years. I loved writing, in theory, but I struggled to actually DO it. Once I started taking medication for my ADHD that all changed. For the first time in years I was inspired to start reading again in my spare time, so I opened up the Kindle App on my phone and before bed each night I started reading books I had downloaded years ago.
It didn’t take long before all of that reading refreshed my love of the written word. The stories coming to life in my head were like finding a long-lost friend. Within just a couple weeks of starting to read regularly again, I found myself critiquing the stories I was reading. I was picking out things I enjoyed that the writers had done, and also things I thought could have been done better and figuring out how I would do it differently.
After a week or two of critiquing stories in my head and arguing with my half-asleep self every night about how I could write a book, I SHOULD write a book, but I have ADHD and hyper-focus on new hobbies and then forget about them in six months so why bother starting when I’m just going to give up, I finally told myself to shut up.
I sat down one morning and Googled writing prompts, and the first one I read immediately gave me an idea so I broke out a notebook and a fun pen and got to work plotting ideas and then character bios. Within a week I had three chapters written and my friends couldn’t wait to read more.
In just 3 months I had 13 chapters, with just under 19,000 words, and now I have started on a second story as well.