I was a slow reader and didn't get going until the third grade. Before that, I loved Dr. Seuss and books about adventure. My father introduced me to science fiction when I was about nine, and once that world opened up, I read everything I could get my hands on. I wrote little stories when I was in elementary school, and got a lot of praise from one of my teachers that encouraged me.
When I first learned to read, most of the material the school offered was about the exciting adventures of Dick and Jane. I don't know their last names or their relationship, but most of their 1950's adventures involved dogs, cats, and school.
Gradually, I switched to perusing the backs of cereal boxes., and in my later childhood moved to authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and the writers of Mad Magazine.
My first foray into making sense--or nonsense--of things on paper was in the form of poetry, bad, bad, poetry.
School teachers were usually the first to read things I wrote.
I was always reading something when I was growing up. Scholastic book clubs offered through grade school was the basic road to my love for reading. I began writing in my early teens. I first started with poetry and soon realized I wanted to express more with short story writing. I was soon sharing my creations with several good friends and interested family members.
I can't remember the very first thing I ever read. I do remember that I didn't care much for it. I guess that's what got me started writing. I wanted to write something worth reading.
I was about 12 years old and I started writing poetry and short stories. As I grew older I started writing material that could be used as a book. I even wrote a play for a school project.
Friends of mine in school read the poetry and short stories. The first person to read the book I wrote was a friend of mine. She read it to her children for story time.
Besides the Dick And Jane books? LOL!
Seems like the first serious reading I did was the works of Edgar Allen Poe followed by the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
I was so smitten by the poetry of Poe that I began writing poetry in a similar fashion. That was when I was in my early teens. However, I did write my first serious short story when I was about 11 or 12. It was a sci-fi story called The Beam From Planet X. My parents were probably the first to read my writing.
I was always attracted to crime and mystery novels, so I guess the the first novels I really took an interest in were by John D MacDonald, and his Travis Mcgee novels. At the time I worked for Eastern Airlines and had a lot of down time between flights arriving at the gates. Many of my co-workers would find novels left by passengers and knowing I enjoyed Detective novels would bring them to me. About 1984, Eastern sponsored a slogan contest, for the North Eastern district and I put together a slogan along with a co-worker and won the contest for that division, my slogan was displayed on ticket counters across the Eastern region for that year.
First read? Can't remember, it was so long ago.
How did I begin writing? Attempting to write short fiction and poems using my vocabulary words in English.
The first to read my writing? My seventh grade science teacher, my seventh grade English teacher and another English teacher.
I remember reading "To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street" and never turned back. As a teen I wrote poetry, and in high school wrote features for the school newspaper. In my early college years I wrote a feature column and wound up with three weekly radio shows. Of course, my teachers were the first to read my work
and provided constructive criticism and encouragement. Word of mouth took me to other avenues, including speech writing, technical and even public speaking.
When I was a child, I loved The Boxcar Children Series (says how old I am) also the Nancy Drew series. I started writing some snippets of poetry and verse when I was about 8 and then little stories. I wrote my first 100,000 word novel (The Eye of the Storm) when I was 16. My parents were the first people to listen to my rantings. They always stopped what they were doing and listened to my stories or poetry and were encouraging.
I first read stories about girls my age who traveled the westward trail. I loved those pioneering tales!
I have written since I could first hold a pencil. I wanted to tell my own stories. I taped together little "books" and even illustrated them.
My family was not much interested in what I wrote. So, the first to read my writing were readers of my first published articles.
I've been reading ever since I can remember. My first recollection, though, is Huckleberry Finn. I began writing when I was barely nine.
My early love of writing focused, as with most young girls, on horse stories. I read Walter Farley's books like they were candy. My father and sister introduced me to speculative fiction, specifically fantasy, by sharing a copy of the, then new, Dragonlance books. Next came a loan of McCaffery's Dragon Riders. By the time I found Piers Anthony's Xanth series, I was hooked in my own right on the genre.
I've always written, albeit poorly. I think the love of reading has a tendency to lead one toward writing. It must stimulate the imagination--at least with speculative fiction--because I started imagining stories of my own almost immediately.
My first readers were teachers. I recieved a lot of encouragement, though in hindsight, I can't imagine why. In high school, I shared work with friends. Mostly poetry, and abysmal poetry at that. It's amazing I survived the sentimental stage. A few college English proffessors saved me and introduced me to good poetry, and good writing. More encouragement. I only recently started sharing work with my family, and my friends and writing group members are still my primary test readers.   | | |
I've been an avid reader since I can remember. I was probably reading out of my age group and a lot went over my head, but through it all, I was definitely in love with the written word. I didn't start taking writing seriously until I was over 30. I'd finished college, had three kids, and was working with my grandmother on her biography. From the time period that she was a young woman (1930's) my first novel was born. Once I started writing, it turned into a passion. I let my mother read my first manuscript. She thought it was nice (like all mothers do). A couple of months later I joined a critique group. Let's just say that my eyes were opened. Pried open.
The Bible.
I guess it was when I wrote a paper for a fraternal organisation, which was published and received praise for its insight and clarity.
My wife.
I first remember reading Enid Blyton books. I used to love the idea of toys coming to life and I think that is what sparked my interest in fantasy. Then I moved onto Jaquline Wilson, but I soon left those types of stories because the situations were too realistic for my liking and I turned to The Spooks Apprentice and read so much more from there.
I think I have been writing for as long as I have been reading. I do not remember writing it but my mum showed me this real short story I wrote about a fairy and it was a four or five year olds writing haha. That was weird to look at. So yeah I cannot even remember when I first started writing. My younger brother was the first to read what I wrote, and he enjoyed the stories so I carried on with them. |
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