Since I am now in the process of getting people to read my book and give me feedback on it, I\’ve had a few of those people ask me how I got into writing in the first place. I\’ve always told them the short version of the story: I\’ve just always liked writing and publishing a book has been a goal of mine for as long as I can remember. Thinking more about it though, I still remember like it was yesterday the exact moment I realized how much I liked writing.
When I was in fifth grade, we had a timed writing prompt that we had to do for Language Arts. We had to write a story about an animal that we wanted as a pet – any animal at all – and an obstacle we had to overcome in order to keep it. I\’ve always LOVED panda bears, so I wrote a story about how I found a lost panda in our backyard, but it was injured and I had to race inside to tend to its injuries. Once inside, I screamed for my mom to come help me with the panda, and together, we were able to get the bleeding under control. There was also a part in there about how our dog at the time, Buddy, chased the panda through the garden, and I had to explain to my mom what happened. I wish I remembered how I ended the story! I can\’t remember if I did end up keeping the panda, or if I ultimately decided to take him to a zoo or something so he could get the proper care he needed.
Anyway, since it was a timed writing prompt, I didn\’t have enough time to write everything I wanted to in the story. But I had so much fun writing it, I really, really wanted to finish it! When class was over, I asked my teacher if I could have the story back when she was done grading it, because I wanted to keep writing it for fun. She told me that as long as I promised to show her the finished story, she\’d give it back to me to keep writing. So, that\’s what I did! I worked on it during our free time period, and when I was completely satisfied with how it turned out, I brought it back to my teacher.
When she finished reading it, she loved it so much she wanted me to read it to the class. I have always been pretty shy, so I told her I didn\’t want to. She then asked if SHE could read it to the class for me. I was a little nervous, but decided she could. I honestly don\’t remember what kind of reaction my classmates had when she read it to them. It was a room full of 10 and 11-year old\’s, they probably didn\’t care much if we\’re being honest. But, my teacher\’s reaction is what I cared about. I loved how excited she got about it, and it made me feel really good that she wanted to share it with others. And on top of it, I had a ton of fun writing that story! Overall, it was a really good feeling, and it sparked my interest in wanting to write more.
Throughout the rest of fifth grade, I\’d write more stories and share them with my teacher, and she said she loved every one of them. I even remember she told my parents in a parent/teacher conference that she thought I should be a writer, and it made me so happy. From then on out, being a writer was always part of my plan, and I made a goal that I would publish at least one book at some point in my life.
As I grew older, I would spend time in my room writing short stories and daydreaming about other potential story ideas. I took creative writing classes, more for fun than because I had to. There was even a ten page short story I wrote for my creative writing class in high school that I had so much fun writing. I shared it with my friends because I was so excited about it, and wanted to see what they thought. I got some positive feedback and it fueled my passion for writing.
Not all the feedback I got was positive though. One in particular sticks out in my mind. I was talking to someone I was really close to in high school one day. I told him my ultimate dream would be to write a book, publish it, and see it on the movie screen. Instead of support, like one would typically expect from a close friend, he laughed at me and told me that life was built on dreams that never come true. It really hurt, but now I just want it that much more. I want to prove him, and anyone else who doubts me, wrong. It may take a while, but I\’m going to achieve my goal of publishing a book. If it happens to become a movie someday, that would be icing on the cake! But for now, I\’ll focus on one goal at a time. 🙂
So, there you have it! The long version of how I started getting into writing. It\’s been something I\’ve enjoyed doing for a very long time now, and I can\’t wait to continue doing it, and see where it can take me!
Hope everyone has a great week coming, get out and enjoy those temps!
Until next time! 🙂
Megan Reiffenberger