I set out to write my first book when I was in sixth grade. Since then my writing has changed quite a bit and has been influenced by many things. Various events happen in everyones lives and these events alter you in some way. Life in general influences a persons writing because life influences the person. The most pivotal part in my life that made a difference in my writing was when I was in sixth grade and I began to write for the first time. During this time I lived with friends of my relatives or one of my relatives. Being in this new place and new environment allowed me to learn many things about people and writing that I had been oblivious to before. For instance, it was in sixth grade that it first entered my head to begin writing in the first place. Before sixth grade I had always enjoyed reading but writing a book myself was a foreign concept. Also during this time I began to observe the people around me more closely. While asking for other peoples opinion I would watch them closely so that I would know what they really thought. In this way I was able to improve upon what I had written. It was also during sixth grade that I got my first criticism as a writer which changed, not only my views on the books that I read but enabled me to see the place of rules in writing.
I moved slowly around the bed approaching the book sitting on the night stand with a critically raised eyebrow. I had hastily thrown it into my suitcase at the last minute. I would have just thrown it in my closet never to be seen again but it had been given to me by one of my best friends. I had told her repeatedly that I was not interested in fantasy. I had explained to the point of annoyance that I thought fantasy was silly and that I didn’t see the point. Despite this, she had given me the first Harry Potter book as an early Christmas present. I was in Florida visiting my mother and grandmother over Christmas break. My mom had moved and I knew no one in this new neighborhood. Besides this, I was not the most social person and meeting new people was more hassle than it was worth. Eying the book suspiciously I picked it up and examined the cover. There was this cartoony looking drawing of a funny looking kid who was flying around on a broom. Seriously? I would have put it right back down but I had promised Tina I would read it, and tell her what I thought. Sighing I lowered myself onto the floor next to the bed and flipped to the first page.
I was hooked. To this day I don't regret reading that book. Not only did it open me to an entirely new aspect of literature that I had previously overlooked but it made me want to write books myself. I could not understand how a book was written but I thought I would give it a try anyway. I understood that the writers that I read were once children and figured if they could write books so could I. However, I was not so very confident in my own writing ability so I suggested to Tina that we write a book together. Having only read one book under the umbrella term of fantasy I suggested we write a book set in a school for magic. Of course we took great pains to ensure that the characters and concepts were nothing like that of Harry Potter. The story focused on three female characters and was set in alternate dimension medieval times. We would each write a portion and the other would look over it and put it into the story. I was absolutely obsessed with writing and slowly I was able to grasp some sort of methodology for writing by examining books by published authors and asking questions of my teachers. I carried on in this way until one of my class assignments changed how I would view writing forever.
Sitting at the computer I stared grumpily at the blank screen. The teacher hustled the rest of my class into the computer room and waited until they were all set to announce our next assignment.
“Today we are going to write a story about Alaskan natives. Its OK if you don't think your story is any good, the important part is incorporating the three key concepts that we have been discussing so far...” She went on but I had heard all I needed to know. I immediately knew what I wanted to write about. Already I could see the story in my head. A little girl being swept down river, the frantic search, the fear, gathering together the will to survive. It was epic. My fingers flew at the keys (despite my horrible typing skills) and I was disappointed when she called an end to the class period. We worked on the assignment for a whole week and when it was done I decided that it was one of the best things I had written yet. Finally, here was my chance to prove that I was a Writer. I thought the story was brilliant and could already envision the praise I would receive for it. I did not really follow the directions given, took many liberties and ignored the tie in to class discussion. I felt that these things would detract from the value of my story and I believed that the “goodness” of my story would make up for any lack of direction following. This was not the case. My teacher wrote on my hard work, a large red D engraved over the top of the page, right above my title. At the bottom, as if in apology, she wrote that my story was quite interesting but that I did not follow the assignment properly. Tears streamed down my face as I walked the two blocks from the school to the house of the lady I was living with at the time, a friend of my Aunt Julie's who insisted I call her Aunt Bee. Aunt Bee asked why I was crying and when I was finally able to choke out an answer and thrust my crumpled paper in her direction. She smiled at me, a little condescending and a little sad. It was then, though I could not put a name on it at the time, that I learned about the different types of writing. I knew that there were different generas, after all we had just learned what the word genre meant and our home room teacher had put up a colorful poster with the names of the most common generas of writing. I knew about Mystery and Romance, Fiction and Non-Fiction. After this particular encounter with writing I was forced to create a new genre, School Writing. I began to understand that writing had limitations and rules placed upon it in an academic setting. Even when a teacher said something like “be creative” what they really meant was “be creative in this box that I have placed around you”. I began to realize that if I wanted to be creative in school I would have to follow the rules. I also began to see the rules in the books I was reading as well. These books had rules pertaining to their structure, but it was not the structure that interested me, it was the story. After getting that D, however, I was forced to understand that it was important to know the rules.
Not willing to give up writing but preferring praise over scorn, I began to search for ways to write more effectively. I continued to examine other author's works as well as ask for any willing person's opinion. I would watch their faces closely as they read because many people, for fear of hurting my feelings, would not be as honest as I wanted them to be. Noticing the changes in body language and tone helped me to add more human characteristics to the characters in my writing. These things were what really told me what they thought of my writing. Beyond this, I was able to gain an insight into human nature as well as body language. Incorporating these things into my writing was also a pivotal point in my writing career because the characters that I created became more and more fleshed out until finally I was able to create differentiation. Previously, I had modeled my characters after myself. Having little understanding of other people I was not really capable of creating a whole new person separate from myself. At least I was unable to until I really began to study the people around me.
In the end, I'd have to say that the most pivotal thing to effect my writing was the opening of my mind to various generas and when I began to understand how writing fit into both society and in an academic setting. Slowly, as I got older, I began to understand other people more and more. This understanding enabled me to create more three dimensional characters that became their own people rather than slightly refined copies of myself. Sixth grade was definitely a time of learning and change in which my writing or at least my perception of writing changed drastically. Not only was it during this time that I began to write, I also experienced my first criticism. This also enabled me to see the rules both grammatical and academic that were placed on a piece of writing. I didn't look too deep into any of these things, nor did I put these newly formed concepts into words. While I barely acknowledged these things on the surface, they stayed with me and were important aspects that influenced my writing from then until now.
Posted by victoria on December 1, 2008
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