tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post4871674552466899227..comments2024-03-29T00:39:54.374-04:00Comments on The Alchemy of Writing: Larval BeginningsBryan Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09555071335245492790noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-47668387198681191672010-07-20T12:42:35.438-04:002010-07-20T12:42:35.438-04:00The progression went
1. my mom reads The Hobbit t...The progression went<br /><br />1. my mom reads The Hobbit to me when I'm 6,<br /><br />2. I fall in love with Star Trek when I'm 7,<br /><br />3. My older brother runs a Star Trek RPG for me when I'm 8,<br /><br />4. I find a Talislanta RPG monster book and make up a game for my friend when I'm 9,<br /><br />5. I decide to write my own fantasy story when I'm 10. I recall it was about teleporting from an elf forest to the moon in order to find a laser to kill a dragon.<br /><br />Then in middle school I started running actual D&D games, which gave me my first exposure to having a regular audience. I got rewarded with their approval when I told my stories, so of course I had to tell more.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110513078990584811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-73698520693850321582010-07-13T14:43:49.254-04:002010-07-13T14:43:49.254-04:00Your family read your story, Bo! At least, your g...Your family read your story, Bo! At least, your glorious older sister did. (I'm pretty sure Mom & Dad did too.)<br /><br />I remember being shocked. You were still pretty wild then, always outside, running, swinging sticks, launching pine cones, arranging elaborate action figure campaigns... But to my highly sophisticated, what, 14 year old self, your games & associated story lines were kind of simple. And involved a LOT of hitting.<br /><br />And then you gave me your story to read. And I loved it. And it wasn't simple, beyond that it was about kids. It read like good young adult fiction. And your twist ending actually caught me by surprise, which was saying something, since I had been addicted to twist endings in adult fiction for years at that point.<br /><br />So I have never been even slightly surprised that you became a writer.QuiteLightnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-21501298785030643842010-07-07T15:02:25.250-04:002010-07-07T15:02:25.250-04:00I always wrote. Ever since I can remember I was sp...I always wrote. Ever since I can remember I was spinning a story, mostly in my own head. I realized that I wanted to write when I i was feverishly scribbling out a scene in my Biology notebook instead of taking notes.<br /><br />It wasn't an assignment, the story I was writing, it was a craving.Raquel Byrneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12870113745683162915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-39965856625061990682010-07-07T12:19:25.161-04:002010-07-07T12:19:25.161-04:00Congrats, Lenny! Welcome to the club. :)
And I wa...Congrats, Lenny! Welcome to the club. :)<br /><br />And I was actually going to write a post next week about my first experience with a real audience, no so dissimilar from yours.Bryan Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09555071335245492790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-13064176673011389262010-07-07T10:36:08.770-04:002010-07-07T10:36:08.770-04:00hi mr bryan! im 11 just like when you got started ...hi mr bryan! im 11 just like when you got started writing. ive been writing stuff for a long time but i didnt ever think of saying im a writer. last year i got a lot of people asking for copies of a story i wrote and it spread around at schools and lots of other places. that was cool. then people said im a good writer. ha ha. im writing two stories right now and one is almost done. my brother puts my stuff in the computer and he does the editing too. maybe i could do a for real book some day.Lenny Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12822588007434789481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-59162255328034189242010-07-06T06:43:19.561-04:002010-07-06T06:43:19.561-04:00For me it was pretty much Gary Gygax. Gary and old...For me it was pretty much Gary Gygax. Gary and old JRR.<br /><br />I was actually reading a lot of Ludlum, Clancy and LeCarre in 6th grade so naturally my first real story was about a spy, but he was really polite, and a family man, sort of the opposite of 007. Man I wish I still had those pages.Matthew MacNishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03264738483763244969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-63963352060626082022010-07-06T04:34:01.922-04:002010-07-06T04:34:01.922-04:00I had an itch to write fantasy for decades, but my...I had an itch to write fantasy for decades, but my love of procrastination meant I doubted I would ever actually write anything. Then I read George R.R. Martin and I found what I wanted. I wanted fantasy but done really realistically. That made me type out a chapter, and it took off from there.Ted Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09022309459554237650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-59114138520071614062010-07-05T21:02:44.399-04:002010-07-05T21:02:44.399-04:00There is a point when an author owns that identity...There is a point when an author owns that identity and changes from being a <i>person who writes</i> to a <i>writer</i>. I love hearing about those stories, those little moments, because they are so individual and speak to who that person <i>is</i>. <br /><br />I only recently became a writer. Sure, I wrote - lots as a kid - but I never had that sense that I've heard so many authors say <i>I've always known I would be a writer</i>. <br /><br />I'm not exactly sure when it happened, sort of like not really knowing the precise moment you fell in love, because it was such a headlong thing there was no making sense of it. But I do have a moment crystallized in my mind. I had ordered a copy of my MG MS printed at the Staples, to be sent off to one of my friend's kids to be beta-read. The Staples guy, in his white shirt and red Staples vest, looked over my order and handed it to me to check. He said, "So, you're a writer?"<br /><br />I blinked. "Yes. Yes I am." <br /><br />It's comical to me now - ordination by the Staples guy - but it was truly the first time I remember being asked that question and being sure of my answer.<br /><br />Thanks for the lovely post! :)Susan Kaye Quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348197999397141067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423907132654588993.post-51100843391061636222010-07-05T19:56:53.484-04:002010-07-05T19:56:53.484-04:00I remember as a kid writing a series of short stor...I remember as a kid writing a series of short stories called: "Captain Cool and the Hero-Wanna-Be League." I would print them and hand them out to anyone willing to read, and the joy of seeing them laugh, of being read, and of creating my own world became absolutely addicting.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04889400960819776680noreply@blogger.com