# How did you start writing?



## panzergulo (Aug 4, 2009)

As there has been some discussion about too harsh behavior towards newbie writers, I want to start a thread and actually ask: How did you start writing? Did you start writing as a role player? Or perhaps by writing fan fiction? Did you use other people's characters or did you have characters of your own from the beginning? Have your first stories ever been posted online?

Also; How long have you been writing, and where are you now with your writing? Still practicing, getting better, published, or planning to quit? Tell me your stories. Come on, everybody likes to talk about themselves. Now I give you the opportunity.


Here's my answers:

I wrote my first stories that weren't written for school when I was sixteen or seventeen. I started straight with short story format, the first story I wrote was quite normal length short story. I have never used other people's characters, the characters I have used have always been my own. However, I admit I use common stereotypes. I think there isn't a writer who could say all their characters are completely unique. Everybody has a character that fits some common stereotype.

I wrote on and off, now and then, when I felt like it, till January 2008. I was twenty-two years old then. That was the time when I started writing regularly, in English, and aiming for posting my stories online. So, about half a decade of my writing career has never seen online posting. And this is the way I want it to stay. My current writing is much more superior in quality anyway.

Currently I'm still writing, getting a little better, maybe, I don't really know, and am not too concerned about it, as I write first and foremost for myself. I have achieved some sort of minor popularity here at FA and some have said I should try publishing. I always thank them politely, but in truth I don't feel like publishing. As long as I don't publish my stories, there is no editor making changes into them, and I can say they are one hundred per cent my own. I find people dreaming about publishing delusional. Many dream about it, but very few have the strength to work enough to make that dream come true. So, yeah, publishing is over-rated, in my opinion.

Because of the history of my writing hobby and my own opinions, I find it offending when people come here and ask for ideas or characters. I have always had characters and ideas of my own. Also, I find it as much annoying, when people come here and post a thread asking for critiques for the first story they have ever written and when you go and look at it, you see it's totally unedited and written without grammar, spelling or originality. Sometimes it's hard to tell if the pile of words is a story or not. I had been writing about five or six years even before I first time felt my stories were good enough for posting online.


So, tell your stories. How did you start writing? Or, if you want, general ideas about starting to write as a hobby or a profession. And rant all you like. I did it already.


----------



## Aurali (Aug 4, 2009)

I didn't start "writing"

I got into Roleplaying on Yiffstar. (Note: just because you are a writer does NOT mean you are a good roleplayer, and vice versa)

I started converting peoples roleplays into stories so they could publish them, and eventually started making my own. After I got tired of roleplaying, I still loved making my own stories and finding the plot between them. My own little world evolved from this and eventually plots and things just come to my mind now. I love writing, even though most of the things I do end up writing aren't good enough for publication.


----------



## Kindar (Aug 4, 2009)

I've been creating stories for as long as I can remember. me and my friends would play act stories in our backyards when we were kids.

I remember writing something before I knew how to really write properly.

Writing became serious for me about 25 years ago when a guy I knew whose writing I admired gave me one of his stories to read and I then realized that he had outright coppied it from one of those 'make your own adventures' books.

I was furious with him and told myself even *I* could write something better than that. and I proceeded to do it.

it was never finished but that's when the writign bug caught up to me.

now, I'm finally starting to think that my writing's no longer horrible. and I'm working on a novel with the hopes of getting it published


----------



## Coolcat33333 (Aug 4, 2009)

I started off as a writer then went to a RPer.


I prefer RPing a lot though.


----------



## SailorYue (Aug 4, 2009)

i was in middle school... i was really into CardCaptors (yes, the godawful dub) and i had some ideas... of course being so young i wanted to see if someone already wrote them so i could read them but never did, so i wanted to ty to write them myself... my firs fanfic sucked eggs. seriously it was way off so i never published it (i dont eve know if it still exists) my nexxt couple storeies just didnt sit right cuz i  was to dub-happy. but then i was inspitred my this one idea... i just started writing.. i carried my folder with 3-holed paper with me  eerywhere,  even in gym, id be writing while walking around the gym. i had a second epic, which i dont think i wrote a proper ending for but i want to... those 2 orange foldrs are my most prized possesions.

ive also written one good sailor moon fanfic... a lost episode of SMS, where Darien/Mamoru got HIS heart snatched... i posted it on my profile at tvtome, but someone didnt like that and reported me and my fic got deleted (this was before i kew what fanfiction.net was) i dont know if that folder, that story still exists, but the idea still lives in my head. it unlike many fic ideas hasnt died yet.

but now since im not so young any mofe, i  olonger write my stories down... cuz ive discovered that iget bored with them once their down. and i can only write ooneshots... chapter fics i cant handle for some reason


----------



## Duality Jack (Aug 4, 2009)

Im started in school, cuz when my buddies started to want to read my short stories before i handed them in, i figured i must be pretty good at it


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 4, 2009)

Long time ago, back in probably 3rd grade, was when I FIRST started writing, pretty much on a whim.  All original ideas, original characters (in fact, I've always been really fond of making up characters).  I sat down and typed for months, got about 30 pages done and felt really proud.  Got another idea through a dream and started writing that one, finished maybe 15 pages.  Then I dropped off the writing radar until I was 15 or 16.
That's when I first started to really pursue it.  I wrote two novels before I got to college, though one I was keeping for myself as sort of a practice run.  The other one, I started to rewrite in college... got pretty far.  Started writing another one, which I posted to VCL for a while.  Continued editing that first one, and then I started reading books on writing fiction.  I realized I would need to do another complete overhaul of that novel, so I started on that again, from the beginning.  Got fairly far, then realized the concepts behind it were silly, so I scrapped it and started over with better ideas, ideas I thought out.  Wrote the whole thing, then put it aside for a long time so I could take a fresh look at it later.  That's when I first joined FA.
I trashed that other one, the one I'd posted to VCL, because I realized it was garbage, and I started writing Vagabond for this place, just for fun.  At some point, I got my first story published, in my university's literary magazine (some stupid thing I wrote for a class).  It's this community, though, that's really made me start to feel like a writer.
I'm editing another story right now, which I plan to send out.  My other two attempts at publication have failed, but I think someday I'll get something for which I'm paid.  That novel is still in the works, but I'm taking my time: want to get a good portfolio of other publications before I start trying to publish that one.
That's about it.  It's all about imagination and a desire to do better, for me.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 4, 2009)

Very interesting stories. And I see many dream about publication... well, MLR has been published already. Also, novel length stories seem to be the _thing_ people assume they have to write if they want to be a writer.

So, if somebody wants more questions:

Why do you dream about publication? Do you really think you can achieve it sometime in the future?

Why are novels valued high? Why do you value novels high?


My thoughts:

As said, I don't dream about publication. I see it as delusional. And I've never written a novel, or never will write... I think. We'll see, in the future. At the time being, I'm happy with short stories and flash fiction. Keeps the writing projects small enough. Although, some of my story arcs might reach over the novel length...


Discuss. Or don't. However you feel.


----------



## Aurali (Aug 4, 2009)

panzergulo said:


> Why do you dream about publication? Do you really think you can achieve it sometime in the future?


I've been published. Though never a novel, I did some journals for a magazine.



> Why are novels valued high? Why do you value novels high?


They aren't for me. I write because it's fun. If I wrote for any other reason, I'd probably never get around to writing.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 4, 2009)

> Why do you dream about publication? Do you really think you can achieve it sometime in the future?


In writing circles in the USA, being a 'published author' holds a very high level of prestige, because it's pretty difficult to get published anywhere.  Essentially, what you imply when you say 'I am a published author' is that your work got accepted by that vicious, terrible, no-mercy entity known as 'the market'.  You broke a kind of barrier, you're making money with your craft, and wide circles are reading what you write.  It grants you a certain kind of respect that you can't get any other way.
That said, I try to get published because I know that in trying I'm going to be improving constantly.  But I've come to understand that getting published doesn't necessarily mean that you're suddenly better than everyone who hasn't gotten published, but rather that you've pushed your writing hard enough that someone important (aka, with money) recognized it and wanted to share it around.  And that's something special.



> Why are novels valued high? Why do you value novels high?


I guess because they're long?  They take a huge amount of work; anyone who's ever tried to write one knows this.  It's a humongous time-commitment, and you've got to somehow be able to keep up your enthusiasm for the project during that whole time.  Years and years.
Plus, novels are just more popular than short stories.  Very few people read short stories anymore.  I only recently discovered them, myself.  Novels can drag you into a place and keep you there for a long time; short stories just give you a taste of that other place.


----------



## Tiarhlu (Aug 4, 2009)

I'm embarrassed to admit, but as I said in the other thread, I began as a fanfic writer. Back in 2000 when I was in college I was talking with a friend of mine over AIM about this character from Titan AE, and we said--for reasons I forget--that we should write a little story about her growing up. It was only going to take like three months.

We were posting it on fanfiction.net and after a while it got spammed by hundreds of hateful, inflammatory reviews. At that time you could only delete a review one by one, so that pretty well made us stop. It shouldn't have but it did. Eventually we got back on it, determined to do our best.

Four years, 45 chapters, and hundreds of thousands of words later, it wasn't done. I have the first few chapters in my scraps, but I don't really plan to finish it. It's just too big of a monster for something that I can't do anything with. Anyway, he dropped the project around that time just as we were realizing that a huge chunk of the story had to be redone because of a major plot event near the end.

It was a lot of fun, and gave me great experience even though the story itself wasn't the best. One thing I learned was that over time characters grow on you, and develop. They take on their own lives. It's a great feeling when something you've created finally feels like flesh and blood.

My only writing for the next few years was via RPs, most of which on an MB somewhere. I started writing again a few summers ago. It was my first time doing anything on my own, but still doing fanfics. Most everything was a gift for a friend, or the result of a commission. I still kept posting on fanfiction.net and always seemed to get very positive reviews. I think I enjoyed the ego stroking, I must admit.

I began a story back in May--with permission--using two of Blotch's characters. Seeing the quality of work they put out got me extremely determined to do the best story I could. I started reading "how to" books left and right. I think I've gone through a whole library of them this summer. It's not done, but I'm concentrating on other things right now. It'll be good though.

So now I've begun to do completely original stories, and I love it. I still don't know why I never did it long ago. It's far more rewarding and actually easier I find. I enjoy the creation process more than anything. It's like meeting new friends, and you've got all these little characters running around in your head. Getting them in print is a strange form of immortality in a way because they're all part of you, even if only a small part.

I think I've gotten a lot better lately. Part of it's my experience, part of it's my development as a person, a composer, and a musician. A lot of things that can be applied to one art form work well on the other. Form, pacing, structure, building to a climax, development, and so on.

I love it when a character or an entire story has a lasting effect on me. Things that really change how you feel about something, or the way you approach your life. That's something I want to be able to do for others. That's part of my wish to get a few things published. I'd also like to be able to win a few competitions, just for some personal validation that I actually can do something well.


----------



## SailorYue (Aug 4, 2009)

sctually thinking about it... i think ive always been a writer... or atleast gotten ideas... i had sometimes really vivdi dreams, and then id play the idea out in my head over and over.... like, make a good story. the dreams never had a clear conclusion, but id end up in my waking state gie them a begining middle and end.;... i just never thought of actually WRiTING them down!


----------



## Xadera (Aug 4, 2009)

I probably originally, originally started "writing" back in the 9th grade when a friend introduced me to DnD. I have played ever since, but, while the game itself was fun, it was the character creation that really interested me. At first it was just a bunch of stats and stuff, but with time I started thinking about "well, why does my character have all these abilities; why are they doing the things that they do?" and spun off from there. In my head I elaborated backstories excessively and imagined how they might react to different situations. I even started considering what would be more "interesting" for the game rather than more "effective". I even had a little notebook where I wrote out character concepts and classes and organizations that could be used for all these worlds.

Even before then, however, I was such a pervert in my own mind, developing fantasies based around different kinds of characters. Things that sounded kinky and original; just playing around with them in my head before falling asleep every night. This had gone on for years, probably beginning in grade school somewhere, and still continues to this day. 

However, about 3 years ago, my family decided to move and I found myself in the middle of nowhere, my friends all far away and kicked back down to dial-up. The latter meant I couldn't play online games with my friends and also meant putting a halt to all the porn I looked at. Lack of friends meant no DnD and lack of porn meant a large increase in my nightly fantasies. 

I yearned for the creative outlet that DnD had provided and lo and behold I was pouring a ton of it into those fantasies, but it wasn't enough. At first, I wanted to draw those fantasies since that was how I had been seeing such things through the internet. That didn't work... So, I tried something else. That's when I actually wrote my first, non-school related, story. I was so proud of myself for having created something original that I immediately posted it here to FA, the few sources of erotic work I had access to. I also had so much fun with it, I just kept writing and writing and writing...

3 years later and I have 2 series that I work on. I have also submitted a couple of entries into contests and taken a couple of requests. Now, I have decided to take on many requests at once, maybe with the prospects of doing commissioned work within the next few weeks. I still long to write stuff as well as some other stories I've seen, but people seem to like me nevertheless and actually trust me with some of their ideas. I've also started being social (I was rather shy about talking through the internet at first, especially considering the subject matter of my submissions) and began making friends on FA, which, as an unintended yet very nice result, brought more attention to my works. I still don't really care if people don't read my stuff, but knowing that I have made people happier through my work is kinda uplifting ^^

I have no interest in being published and porn doesn't work too well as full-length novels. Nearly all of my stories here are short, erotic stories (though some have many chapters), whereas my non-erotic efforts go back into developing worlds and stories for DnD. I might be able to write a non-erotic novel, I've had ideas that would be suitable, but I'm just not interested in doing it yet. I have fun being a perv and porn keeps me - and others - happy. There's also a lot of help from the many vivid dreams I have every night, as well as all the TV I watch, the video games with intriguing storylines, the anime, and the few novels I've read through that have helped me learn what I think is required for good storytelling; though that probably applies to all writers anyways.


----------



## Winter (Aug 4, 2009)

I started writing in school, using every 'free writing' session to make up or expand stories. Most were either silly adventure tales or even more silly horror stories, but the teacher usually liked them.

Later, when my baby brother was born, I made up stories for him, mostly using video game or kids' shows characters.

I didn't really start writing seriously until I was in my mid-to-late twenties, when I took a writers class. It helped much, and made me want to have a proper go at becoming a professional writer. I still nurture that dream.

As for being published, well, that is the goal I'm dreaming of. I have seen my name in prints a couple of times, and it is a great feeling.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 5, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> In writing circles in the USA, being a 'published author' holds a very high level of prestige [...]  getting published doesn't necessarily mean that you're suddenly better than everyone who hasn't gotten published [...]
> 
> Plus, novels are just more popular than short stories.  Very few people read short stories anymore. [...]



I think this pretty much answers my questions. Although, I fear quite a few do it just because that "I'm better than you" aspect of it all.

I believe you mean that novels are more popular in publication than short stories. I think that most online readers prefer short stories. Just my own experience, though... Free market, like posting stories online, is totally another affair compared to commercial market.



Tiarhlu said:


> I'm embarrassed to admit, but as I said in the other thread, I began as a fanfic writer. [...]



Nothing embarrassing in that, really. You have your own characters now, right? I might have had my own characters from the beginning, but many seem more comfortable with well-established characters at first. Besides, reading about popular characters in... other situations than in novels or movies or TV... yeah, I bet that has some audience.



Xadera said:


> I have no interest in being published and porn doesn't work too well as full-length novels. [...]



So, there is another one who doesn't care for publication. I thought I was just weird or something. It's just so puzzling when nine out of ten beginning writers tell their dream is to become published. Maybe I'm just biased, I have listened the answers of wrong people.

Anyway, there is maybe two things after which I know I have reached the peak of my writing career. And no, neither of them is publishing or winning a contest. I have some totally another goals in my mind...


----------



## TakeWalker (Aug 5, 2009)

I had to look way back over my writing to figure it out. I think it comes down to a number of elements.

Foremost is inspiration. I started writing poetry at the age of six because I liked the way my favorite poets at the time (Perlutsky and Silverstein, lol) made their words sound. As for writing prose...

I've always used dreams as inspirations. But I've also never needed to rely on them. I've always had lots of ideas that would make good stories, or that I at least thought would look good on paper. Again, I was inspired by those I read, but damned if I can remember who they were.

I could almost pin it down to one thing in particular. Back in middle school, we would have vocabulary classes, where one common assignment was to write x number of sentences, with one vocabulary word in each. I loved stringing the sentences together into stories (I still have one or two saved somewhere). It was no doubt my mother who suggested I try writing, as she was a writer herself. She was probably also a big influence on me. :3

I did some writing as a response to roleplaying games I participated in in high school. I also did my stint of fanfic writing (Star Fox fandom represent!), but that was long after I'd begun writing. I also did a lot of writing in interactive stories, in the late 90s, and that's when my writing bug, if you will, really picked up. I spent lots of time dicking around in fanmade worlds based on video games and whatnot, while taking off on my own, looking for a way to break out and get my own ideas out there, without them being tied to anyone else's.

As for where I am now, well, after 22 years of writing anything at all, I'm (very slowly) trying to get published, and I'm also really trying to push my writing, as MLR put it. I'm always shamed by the amazing writers who surround me, any time I start to think I might just be a good writer. Somehow, this has never stopped me, but encouraged me to work on what I'm good at and also what I'm not good at.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 5, 2009)

panzergulo said:
			
		

> Although, I fear quite a few do it just because that "I'm better than you" aspect of it all.


Oh yeah, I'm sure you're right.
*cough*Christopher Paolini*cough*


> I think that most online readers prefer short stories.


Well, yeah, but just how popular is reading stuff online anyway?  Maybe I should say, when including all types of readers and writers, novels are more preferred.  Internet reading seems pretty negligible to me, if this site is any indication of its popularity.


----------



## Lamont (Aug 5, 2009)

Everyone has done some form of writing back at school. The first thing I can remember was this short story I wrote when my year 5 teacher told the class to write something like Roald Dahl's 'The Twits'. It made people sick when they read it.  I think I was about 10 or 11 then.

In year 6, my class and I had to write prayers relating to creation (my primary school was catholic). It took longer for me to write one, but all the staff praised me for it. They kept using it in church mass and parent-oriented events. Last I heard was that they framed it and placed it on a wall in their office. I should really go back there. That same year, I wrote a short story which was also praised (but I based it off Ragnarok Online).

I guess that was when I began to turn towards poetry. I really liked writing poetry, but then came high school (middle school?) and I didn't write much until year 10. I did recieve A's in creative writing assessments, but I've always sucked at essays.

It was last year when I set my mind to become a writer. A friend of mine helped me get back on track too. I'm not so keen to write novels; I'd rather be a poet. Though I guess I might be dreaming big trying to get published. It's worth a try. It's also worth trying to apply for a degree in creative writing at university:-D. But I could always become an English teacher.

(But dream big, Lamont. Dream big.)


----------



## Kindar (Aug 5, 2009)

the fact the I'm planing on getting a novel published doesn't mean it's somethign I've been dreaming about. It's simply that I feel the story is worth getting published.

As for the why so many writers dream of it, I'll defer to Mr Le Renard


----------



## Tiarhlu (Aug 5, 2009)

panzergulo said:


> Nothing embarrassing in that, really. You have your own characters now, right? I might have had my own characters from the beginning, but many seem more comfortable with well-established characters at first. Besides, reading about popular characters in... other situations than in novels or movies or TV... yeah, I bet that has some audience.



Oh, of course. In fact, the first one I ever did was about 95% my own characters, and the one that wasn't was so far removed from how we know her due to time and location that she practically was a different character. 

As for publishing. . .in my case I'm an artist. I'm a trained musician, it's what I do, so writing is a branch of that. I'm sure if I had a "real" job I wouldn't think about it as much. I really want my music published too, but that hasn't happened yet. That more than anything. My own album sure would be nice. I'm getting off topic though.

MLR, saying Poalini on here should be the equivalent of saying Voldemort in the Potterverse.  I must confess though that before I knew better I did buy the first book. I couldn't get past the first two pages. Felt like I was reading some middle schooler's writing.


----------



## ShÃ nwÃ ng (Aug 5, 2009)

Wrote a couple of fiction stories in elementary school. They were shit and ripped off from stuff I saw on t.v. Didn't really pursue any creative writing until high school where I had a pretty critical creative writing teacher. Some things I wrote were bad and she made me feel bad for it but it was all in a days work, my stuff was too ambitious at the time. (They still are.) I wrote a few other stories that were based off of other stories but they were just fanfics in disguise. 
That being said, I'm just hoping that time and practice helps me get better and more focused.


----------



## GraemeLion (Aug 5, 2009)

I decided I liked creating worlds.  I liked reading. And so it just happened.  I would write.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 5, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> *cough*Christopher Paolini*cough*





Tiarhlu said:


> MLR, saying Poalini on here should be the equivalent of saying Voldemort in the Potterverse.  I must confess though that before I knew better I did buy the first book. I couldn't get past the first two pages. Felt like I was reading some middle schooler's writing.



I'm totally unembarrassed to tell that I didn't recognize the name at first. Only after searching with Google I found what he has written: Eragon. Okay... he was that guy... Never read anything of his, and Eragon was a critic failure in Finland, if I remember correct. Something... "nice little book as such, if you happen to like fantasy... stuff, but everything is ripped off from somewhere". Some critic said some of the scenes in the book were directly ripped off of Tolkien's 'The Lord Of The Rings'. Aand... now I checked the Wikipedia article about Eragon, and I see it got mixed reception in your part of the world too.

Also, Tiarhlu, in some very twisted, perverted way, I feel satisfaction as I know you have probably read more from me than this... Paolini guy.



Lamont said:


> [Lamont wrote many things]



Lamont! I didn't know you are in the forums. Well, I hope you're the same Lamont I'm reading at FA. The numerous referrals to your own poetry gives me a hint that you are. Why don't you post more often here? I added you to this thread already. Well, I gave Take Walker a bunch others too, but you were amongst those I recommended. Nice to see you.

Okay, enough with my randomness... Very interesting stories you folks have. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and memories.


----------



## Tiarhlu (Aug 5, 2009)

I have read more of your work than his. You're far far better too, and if I understand correctly, English isn't your first language.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 5, 2009)

Tiarhlu said:


> I have read more of your work than his. You're far far better too, and if I understand correctly, English isn't your first language.



_Ja siinÃ¤ ymmÃ¤rryksessÃ¤si olet kyllÃ¤ aivan oikeassa, ystÃ¤vÃ¤iseni.

_I mean, yeah, that's right.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 5, 2009)

> and Eragon was a critic failure in Finland


Finnish people must be smarter than Americans.  It was a national bestseller over here.  They even made a movie out of it (which was also incredibly bad).

Sort of off-topic... I'm wondering why we don't have any good guides on aspects of poetry on this forum.  I and others have covered fiction, but there have been very few poetry threads, and none that I remember about actually writing good poetry.  Someone needs to step up and start talking about poetry.
And it can't be me.  The last time I wrote a poem was when I was forced to for a high school English class.  I imagine it was incredibly terrible.  I have never pretended to be a poet; that's one aspect of writing I just can not handle.


----------



## GraemeLion (Aug 5, 2009)

I still think Eragon's success over here was rigged due to his parents being in the publishing business and knowing the right people and getting it into school curricula.


----------



## TakeWalker (Aug 5, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Finnish people must be smarter than Americans.  It was a national bestseller over here.  They even made a movie out of it (which was also incredibly bad).
> 
> Sort of off-topic... I'm wondering why we don't have any good guides on aspects of poetry on this forum.  I and others have covered fiction, but there have been very few poetry threads, and none that I remember about actually writing good poetry.  Someone needs to step up and start talking about poetry.
> And it can't be me.  The last time I wrote a poem was when I was forced to for a high school English class.  I imagine it was incredibly terrible.  I have never pretended to be a poet; that's one aspect of writing I just can not handle.



Most people don't do poetry these days. It's a squishy thing, not easily nailed down.

Besides, most of the poetry on this site? Emo, with no technical prowess whatsoever.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 5, 2009)

Well, fiction is squishy too, but you can still give people general advice on how to do it better.  Key phrases like 'showing versus telling', or tricks to good dialogue, or whatever.  Surely there are some techniques for writing good poetry.
Oh, and most of the fiction on this site has no technical prowess whatsoever, either.  It kind of goes without saying.
I wonder if anyone started writing because they wanted to be strictly a poet?



			
				redcard said:
			
		

> I still think Eragon's success over here was rigged due to his parents being in the publishing business and knowing the right people and getting it into school curricula.


It was, and I think also that people at the time were just craving fantasy (break in between Harry Potters).  But he's up to Book 3 by now, and people are still buying them.  I've read the intro to book 3: he hasn't gotten any better as a writer.  If anything, he's gotten worse, now that his head is so much bigger.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 5, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Finnish people must be smarter than Americans.  It was a national bestseller over here.  They even made a movie out of it (which was also incredibly bad).



I actually had to check a couple of Finnish literature sites... and yes, the book was a failure amongst critics *and* amongst readers. It sold well alright, as they used the author's age as a marketing trick. The book has some sort of fan base, but it seems it is formed of teen/preteen readers. The novel has been evaluated as "children's and teenager's fantasy" in Finland. I don't feel bad I haven't read the book.


----------



## yiffytimesnews (Aug 5, 2009)

It was after a series of quite vivid dreams, I had to write it down.


----------



## duroc (Aug 5, 2009)

I started writing back in sixth grade I believe, turning out piles of atrocious video game fan fiction and poetry on a typewriter(those were the days).  Then in junior high school, when The Lion King was released, my writing became more focused on anthropomorphics.  

After writing tons of horrific Lion King fan fiction, I started to tire of using other people creations so I began creating my own characters and stories.  Some of those stories I tried expanding into novels but they were horrible(well, everything back then was horrible) and they always seemed to read more like a collection of short stories rather than a novel.  I actually posted the beginning of my first novel attempt on FA, where it is hidden away in my scraps so that people's eyes won't melt.

Then I started experimenting in Anthro Science Fiction and Urban Fantasy stories.  From there I found the fandom on the internet and started reading all I could find(with dreams of some day being published in those fanzines and books).  Eventually I stumbling across Furaffinity, joining the Thursday Prompts, and now here I am today.  Wow...what an adventure this has been.


----------



## Aeturnus (Aug 6, 2009)

I can't say for sure. I remember writing off and on through school, but I never really took seriously until the last five years or so. Which was also when I realized I can't draw worth shit. I'll admit I did write a lot of fanfics, and for the most part I feel they helped me become a better writer. The one thing I've noticed with my older works, that aren't fanfics, is the lack of description and narration, and after writing fanfics for a couple of years, that changed.


----------



## Shotgunjim (Aug 9, 2009)

What I think has given me the most inspiration to start writing is the fact that during the latter part of my school career, I did a lot of writing for  assignments, and the teachers would always compliment me on what they said was a "gift" or a "natural talent". I've been given so much praise to that end that I've even had teachers say that I should become a writer. So after my interest in the fandom started to become more pronounced, I thought to myself that I ought to excersise my writing abilities to see if I really was as talented as people had told me. However, I have only begun to write stories and post them on FA. I haven't even finished with my first story, but I think that it's pretty good so far. It's called _Crucible of Deliverance_, and I have the first three chapters of it uploaded to my gallery. I think I'll start working on chapter four some time today. I plan to write a lot more in the future, just because I get so much gratification from it. I've even got an idea for my second story.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 9, 2009)

Very interesting stories you have, folks. Thank you for sharing them. It seems writing as a hobby can start as many ways as there are writers. Although, I think there aren't many who just think: "I'm going to be a writer now." Seems that people just find themselves liking writing and storytelling, without a conscious decision to start writing.



Shotgunjim said:


> What I think has given me the most inspiration to start writing is the fact that during the latter part of my school career, I did a lot of writing for  assignments, and the teachers would always compliment me on what they said was a "gift" or a "natural talent". I've been given so much praise to that end that I've even had teachers say that I should become a writer. So after my interest in the fandom started to become more pronounced, I thought to myself that I ought to excersise my writing abilities to see if I really was as talented as people had told me. However, I have only begun to write stories and post them on FA. I haven't even finished with my first story, but I think that it's pretty good so far. It's called _Crucible of Deliverance_, and I have the first three chapters of it uploaded to my gallery. I think I'll start working on chapter four some time today. I plan to write a lot more in the future, just because I get so much gratification from it. I've even got an idea for my second story.



If you wrote short stories, I would check them out right away. I haven't read but two or three novel-length stories online... A short story, that is, something from few hundreds to few thousands words is pretty much what I can read at a time. Your story about how you started writing made me curious, though.


----------



## Shotgunjim (Aug 9, 2009)

What I do, actually, is write the chapters and post them individually. _Crucible of Deliverance_ is a work in progress, and I've only just started on it.


----------



## Shotgunjim (Aug 9, 2009)

Oh, and just out of curiosity, how exactly did my story about how I got into writing make you curious? Just wondering what you mean, that's all.


----------



## Aurali (Aug 9, 2009)

TakeWalker said:


> Most people don't do poetry these days. It's a squishy thing, not easily nailed down.
> 
> Besides, most of the poetry on this site? Emo, with no technical prowess whatsoever.



hey, I think I did well on my most recent poem... and that's not even near my medium of choice XD


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 9, 2009)

Shotgunjim said:


> Oh, and just out of curiosity, how exactly did my story about how I got into writing make you curious? Just wondering what you mean, that's all.



This:



Shotgunjim said:


> [...] the teachers would always compliment me on what they said was a "gift" or a "natural talent".



I don't believe in child prodigy. The praise you tell you have received from your teachers seems too good to me. That got me interested.

I believe storytelling needs at least some talent, or at least years of hard work, storytelling doesn't come easy to all of us. And I have encountered many "writers" who "decided" to become writers and who didn't care to see the effort to improve themselves. Frankly, writings from such people are quite horrible.

I suspect I might have some, minor, talent, as I rarely truly struggle when writing and for some odd reason people seem to enjoy stories into which I haven't really even put that much effort on. Some of my most popular stories have been written in an hour, edit/proofread only once or twice and then submitted. But in "natural talent" I believe not. I say it's fool's luck. Sometimes even a blind hen finds a grain of corn.

Say, would you join Poetigress' Thursday Prompt when it returns on the next Thursday, that is, 13th of August? It's a nice little weekly writing exercise, nothing too serious, just something little to have fun. I bet, if you are as good as your teacher tell, you would easily get more watchers and readers by taking part to the prompts. Writing a long story wholly without feedback might be a daunting task. And to tell you the truth, I don't see the forums in any way good source of readers. If you want interaction with the writer community of FA, you must take it to the main site. And Thursday Prompt is a great way to find and to be find. The Promptists usually keep the responses fairly short, so it doesn't take considerable effort to read many of them. Also, mutual feedback is always plus. Also also, writing short stories is great exercise for any writer; The ability to tell a story under a few thousand words is an asset even for a novel writer.

Helpful links:

Poetigress' userpage: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/poetigress/

Thursday Prompt FAQ: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/723637/

Thursday Prompt Archives 2007-2008: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2478047/
Thursday Prompt Archives 2009: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2478062/

Hopefully we see you around.


----------



## Shotgunjim (Aug 9, 2009)

Thanks for the links. In truth, I always did wonder if the teachers really did like my writing as much as they say they did, or if it was really just flattery. I guess I'll never know. However, I did write a short limerick poem in the sixth grade that got published in a poetry book, for whatever that's worth. I do have some interest in improving if I can, that's partly why I've been sniffing around this forum. You say that you spend an hour on a story? I can spend anywhere from two to three hours on one chapter, just brainstorming about the dialogue, writing, proof reading, correcting punctuational mistakes/redundancies/grammatical errors, and then going back and proof reading again. I like to make sure that my work is coherent and as flawless as I can make it.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 9, 2009)

One hour is extremely short time for me... I usually spend days writing my stories, even the short ones. Thursday Prompt responses of mine are usually written really fast. I have taken it as a guideline to my prompt writing: Keep it short, fast and fun. I usually take the first idea I get and run with it. But, as said, the proper stories I write have many hours and several edit/proofreads behind them.


----------



## Shotgunjim (Aug 9, 2009)

_"But, as said, the proper stories I write have many hours and several edit/proofreads behind them."_

Same here. There are times when I can spend as long as 4-6 hours on a chapter. Sometimes, after reviewing what would amount to about a day's work, I find that what I have written can be greatly improved and I change it almost completely. That's what I did with chapter 3 of _Crucible_. If you take a look at it, it is almost completely different from what I had before.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 9, 2009)

I just wanted to say, the instant I saw the words 'natural talent', a big red flag went up in my head and started waving.  So I looked at your gallery, Shotgunjim, and read a little bit.  My conclusion is, congratulations: your work isn't half bad!  From my experience, when people are told by their teachers or parents or whatever that they're some kind of child prodigy, it inflates the bejeezus out of their egos and they immediately become stuck at one skill level, usually a low one.  But I guess you never let that happen to you.


----------



## foozzzball (Aug 9, 2009)

<--- Former Child Prodigy.

The thing they don't tell you is that 'impressive skill' for a kid in school does not easily translate to 'impressive skill' in adulthood. Pinning too much to 'I am a prodigy! ' is a recipe for disaster - be willing to put in ten years, not ten hours.


Edit: 

@MLR: Yeah, he's not bad, but he's not good, either. He's not the horrorshow I expected either, but... looks like the fellow needs to get his nose to the grindstone, not reach out for admiration.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 9, 2009)

foozzzball said:
			
		

> <--- Former Child Prodigy.


Oh go figure.  No wonder you're such a jerkwad. 


> looks like the fellow needs to get his nose to the grindstone, not reach out for admiration.


Well, don't we all.  And the fellow did mention up there that he's here to improve, so there you have it.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 9, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> MLR writes many things





foozzzball said:


> So does foozzz



You're in good hands, Jimbo, take the advice of these two fellas seriously and you'll become something more than the usual i-don't-care-about-grammar-or-spelling-fanfic-crap-writer we seem to be infested with here now and again.


----------



## TakeWalker (Aug 9, 2009)

foozzzball said:


> <--- Former Child Prodigy.



Same.

And heyguesswhat, if you rest on your laurels and suck in all the praise, you're not going to stay prodigious for long. You gotta keep workin' to develop whatever talent you might have.

What are we even talking about? ._.


----------



## foozzzball (Aug 9, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Oh go figure.  No wonder you're such a jerkwad.



No kidding. You want a venomous monster, you go find a child prodigy who didn't get the incredible success, affection and recognition they were promised by every authority figure that they had. I'm comparitively _nice_.



> Well, don't we all.  And the fellow did mention up there that he's here to improve, so there you have it.


It's particularly critical at the early stages. People start writing, think they've got something good, try and get some approval for it by showing it around... become crestfallen when they discover it isn't good. I think it's really critical to keep your nose on the grindstone until you are really confident you understand what is and isn't a decent piece of fiction.



TakeWalker said:


> Same.



<.< >.> Point above proven.


Edit because I can't resist:



panzergulo said:


> You're in good hands, Jimbo, take the advice of these two fellas seriously and you'll become something more than the usual i-don't-care-about-grammar-or-spelling-fanfic-crap-writer we seem to be infested with here now and again.



Yes. Take my advice seriously. *Rubs hands together.* Yeeeeees~...


----------



## Tiarhlu (Aug 9, 2009)

I had to take this research class in grad school. It was dreadfully boring and every single thing there was to learn was available in this book we had to buy. I liked my teacher, but she seriously could have saved us a lot of time on day one if she just said read the book and I'll see you in December.

Anyway, she really REALLY liked my writing, which kind of blew my mind. The first thing I turned in to her that she commented on I thought was quite crappy. This was a composer biography for Christ's sake. She said it was very enjoyable to read and there was a real effortlessness to reading. (Maybe that's because I put no effort into the assignment. ) Still, that surprised me because one, this woman was very hard to please, and two, I'd always done poorly in any writing intensive college classes.

I seem to be a lot better at fiction than argumentative papers. 

I was another one of those child "prodigies," though in music. I got first place in a state competition, among other things. Then I got to college and discovered that everyone around me was just as good, if not better. It was a huge slap in the face that took me several years to grow up from.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 9, 2009)

Tiarhlu said:
			
		

> I seem to be a lot better at fiction than argumentative papers.


Actually, this is kind of funny, but getting better at fiction has also really helped improve my academic writing.  It's just the kind of logic expected from fiction is exactly the same as that expected in essays or formal reports or whatever, so now that I know how to tell a coherent story, I also know how to string ideas together for a sensible paper, which is one that flows more like a story.
Fiction writing has a lot of benefits, really.


			
				TakeWalker said:
			
		

> What are we even talking about? ._.


People who start writing because their mommies tell them they're special, and why that's not usually a good thing.
Luckily, I was never considered a prodigy of anything.  I try to aim for 'above average'.


----------



## Murphy Z (Aug 9, 2009)

foozzzball said:


> <--- Former Child Prodigy.



Quoted just so I can be one too



> Then I got to college and discovered that everyone around me was just as good, if not better.


Every step is more and more like that. You know, fishes and ponds and all that. When my room mate went to grad school, she was surrounded by valedictorians and people who excelled in major universities. 

With writing, probably a lot of us were told "you're awesome!" and "I wish I could write like you!" Many of these people never wrote anything fictional that wasn't a school assignment or tried once, wrote a couple of paragraphs, hated it, and never tried again.

My friends and I had a sort of writing thing going, but (please don't tell!) they're pretty bad. So, I was the best of them, whoopee.

At least here you can find writers of all levels, even people who have things published on a regular basis. So it's nice to have people of higher skill levels so I don't rest on my laurels.


----------



## Tiarhlu (Aug 9, 2009)

Yeah grad school really got me. I was in a new city at a much larger school, and we had extremely talented people all over the world there. I really felt lost. I learned a lot, but never quite felt part of the game. I'm a small town guy and don't think I ever adjusted. 

But enough tangents. I think my desire to create eventually fell to writing. There's something empowering about being able to create a world or a character that you can bring to life. Something that can live on in another's mind.


----------



## TakeWalker (Aug 9, 2009)

foozzzball said:


> <.< >.> Point above proven.



And just what is that supposed to mean? >:[


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 9, 2009)

foozzzball said:


> Yes. Take my advice seriously. *Rubs hands together.* Yeeeeees~...



Ah, how I laughed. Yeah, but seriously, many young writers seem to have that problem that they don't listen what they are told. At least, that is the picture I have been given from the young writers who come here at the forums with their problems. "I want critique" means "I want attention" to many. When they are given the critique they ask, they start crying. "ur mean!!!!1" I cherish every piece of real constructive critique I get, and feel inadequate because I can't always follow all the advice. But then again, I don't really aim for publishing. I write because it's fun. Thus, I'm pretty much stuck as a mediocre writer. Surprisingly, I don't find it disturbing. There are many levels of seriousness in writing. To me, it's a hobby. Publishing is overrated.

To join the conversation: I wasn't a child prodigy. I have a feeling in Finnish schooling system nobody is a prodigy. When I was really good in math, nobody said I was a prodigy. I was just really good in math. University didn't hit me in the face. It wasn't a surprise to me that there are people who are better than me in math. And to tell the truth, some of the more talented mathematicians seriously lack on other skills, say, social skills and common sense. I'm glad I'm not amongst those weirdos.


----------



## Tiarhlu (Aug 9, 2009)

Panzer, there seems to be this issue in American culture where everyone is special. We're told that from the beginning. We sing songs about it in kindergarten. Everyone gets participation trophies. Self esteem boosting is emphasized. It's considered taboo for a teacher or parent to criticize. 

Then we get into the real world. That's why we're all depressed and emo and drugged up on Zoloft.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 10, 2009)

Tiarhlu said:


> Panzer, there seems to be this issue in American culture where everyone is special. We're told that from the beginning. We sing songs about it in kindergarten. Everyone gets participation trophies. Self esteem boosting is emphasized. It's considered taboo for a teacher or parent to criticize.
> 
> Then we get into the real world. That's why we're all depressed and emo and drugged up on Zoloft.



You are so twisted, Amerika. The more I learn about you, the weirder you get.

In Finnish culture, you're not supposed to stand out too much. Everything is just "good" or "average". Not "the best" or "magnificent" or anything greatly over "good". In a job interview, it would be a career suicide to answer the question "why would we like to hire you?" by saying: "Because I'm the best." Even if that was true, the one who uses that phrase is *not* going to get the job.

There is an old saying in Finnish. _Omakehu haisee._ The translation is pretty much: Self-praise stinks. In Finnish culture, you're supposed to belittle yourself, even when you get praise from other people.

"Hey, well done man, you really did it today. Good job!"
"It was nothing, really, any man could've done the same..."

Sure, culture of "specials" and praising might upbring self-confident individuals, but it also creates egoistic assholes. I have a feeling that self-realism is more common in Finland than that side of Atlantic. In Finnish culture, you have the permission to be good, but don't you dare get cocky! Finns are rather self-critical, in my experience.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Aug 10, 2009)

Ha ha... yeah, that's a big difference all right.  In fact, in America, it's expected that you praise the hell out of yourself for job applications.  If you don't know how to exaggerate your strong points, you won't get hired very easily.  Same with query letters for books: you've got to sell it, even if it means lying a little bit.
It creates egotistical assholes, yes, but it also creates a very ferocious, dog-eat-dog style of competition.  I think that's why American businesses are taking over the world.  You can find Coca-Cola vending machines in the Sahara.


----------



## panzergulo (Aug 10, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> I think that's why American businesses are taking over the world.  You can find Coca-Cola vending machines in the Sahara.



I'm not too concerned. Nokia is from Finland. And there are only five million of us.


----------



## Lamont (Aug 10, 2009)

It saddens me how my country is slowly becoming egotistic. D: But what really bothers me is how all my friends belittle themselves.

"Aw, I got 13/15 for this exam. I did so crap."

Mate, I'd kill for a 13/15. D: Then I realised that they really do it so that they can milk out more praise. ._. Pisses me off how all my friends do that. A lot of of my asian friends have that kind of upbringing. 

It is good to take things in moderation though.  Be proud of yourselves people but always try to look beyond that satisfaction and improve. Just don't buy hybrid cars. XD


----------



## Volsar Rewtree (Sep 10, 2009)

I was Rping with some friends, and I introduced my characters sister. It didn't talke long before she was romatically involved with anothers character. As a joke, I roleplayed the sexual encounter, at least the beginning. Everyone laughed and much fun was had. About a week later my friend who was also roleplaying in it asked if i would write a short story about those characters. I thought for a moment, then tried it out. THe story reletively sucked compaired to my current stuff, but it was my start.


----------



## nybx4life (Sep 10, 2009)

panzergulo said:


> As there has been some discussion about too harsh behavior towards newbie writers, I want to start a thread and actually ask: How did you start writing? Did you start writing as a role player? Or perhaps by writing fan fiction? Did you use other people's characters or did you have characters of your own from the beginning? Have your first stories ever been posted online?
> 
> 
> 
> So, tell your stories. How did you start writing? Or, if you want, general ideas about starting to write as a hobby or a profession. And rant all you like. I did it already.



This is kinda dumb actually. I saw my friend reading Twilight one day (during the early times it came out, not actually now when it's all hyper-fandomized), and he said something along the lines of "BEST BOOK EVAR!!!1!" (he supposedly speaks leet, so that's how he sounds)

I said to him, "That's B.S. I can do a damn better job." He made me bet him, for me to make a story and have it come out on the bestseller list. If it doesn't, I buy him W.O.W for a year ($90). But since he's a stoner, he doesn't remember.

I, with not much of an idea at the time, with little creativity to make my own characters, used myself as a main character (yeah, Mary-Sue ish, but it's not that bad...I think), and my friends as supporting characters, with the exception of a few characters.

It took me months (about a year I'd say) to finish the story because I did it off and on at times. I attempted to publish it, had a bad luck streak with it, so I left it on DeviantArt. Might be a chance I edit it and go again to publish.

Since then I have tried writing stories online. Few stories I write have NOT been posted online (mainly due because I couldn't think the plot through, or at least the first chapter)

Then, here I am now


----------



## Jessica Chen (Sep 13, 2009)

I started writing because of a dream -_-


----------



## SailorYue (Sep 13, 2009)

Jessica Chen said:


> I started writing because of a dream -_-


dreams are agreat inspiration


----------



## Jessica Chen (Sep 13, 2009)

my dreams are weird though  but you're right. I'm writing a novel that was based on a dream


----------



## SailorYue (Sep 13, 2009)

the wierd one s are the best =P

like being abducted by an alein just to help repopulate his race XD


----------



## CinnamonApples (Sep 13, 2009)

I started writing because I thought plagiarism was okay when I was six-years-old.

I write when I can. I suffer from writers-block far too easily. I'd say as far as skills
go I'm pretty decent. I find my work is much better with very little dialogue.


----------



## Jessica Chen (Sep 13, 2009)

CinnamonApples said:


> I started writing because I thought plagiarism was okay when I was six-years-old.


 

lol


----------



## FanaticRat (Sep 13, 2009)

I think the first thing I wrote was some horrid pokemon fanfiction when I was nine or so that I would beat myself with a crowbar if I saw myself writing it now. Afterwards, more fanfiction and whatnot until I moved onto original prose only recently.

Kind of odd, I never showed any of my writing to anyone I know and only recently have I considered anything I've written even barely suitable to be seen by others.


EDIT: Also, it's hard to get real crits, it seems.


----------



## Ziff (Sep 14, 2009)

I always start off with something small that hooks people in and is necesarry for later. Like I was writing this story (I gave up on it T.T) where I started off with a dream. The guy had a dream his kittins had died and him and his mate were captured. Guy wakes up, that was weird! later in the story, transforms into a cat, falls in love, and watya know, the dream comes true!

tl;dr I start off with information that is completely useless at the present moment.


----------



## JonaWolf (Sep 14, 2009)

Writing was something I sneered at in my school days. English was a class I despised and most of my teachers had pretty much the same opinion of me at the time. I was far more concerned with friends, partying and goofing off to even think about putting pen to paper. I have always been an avid reader though and it was the reading that got me into writing when I got into my mid twenties. I could never find the one story I wanted to read so I decided to try writing it. Ten years later, I'm still working on it.

I'm not sure why I decided to do that. I'm hardly the type of person that most associate with writing. High school educated, blue-collar, a guy who makes a living under the hood of cars.

I guess inspiration isn't picky with who it strikes.


----------



## Atrak (Sep 19, 2009)

Jessica Chen said:


> my dreams are weird though  but you're right. I'm writing a novel that was based on a dream


 
Jess, dreams are just your sub-conscious mind doing what your conscious mind can't. Have writer's block? Take a nap.

I guess I first started writing mentally  . I would have daydreams/fantasies that would last, oh....as long as I was awake. I didn't start _writing_ until middle school, when they made us write for honors/gifted english. My stories then *sucked*, but mostly because I am a free writer, and that damned 1500 word maximum kept getting in my way  .
The first complete story I ever wrote was seven pages long, and I think it was in eigth grade. It sucks now, comparatively, of course, but that is a *good* thing. It means I've improved a lot since then.
Then, during this summer of 2009, I decided to write a story. I always have fantasies, ideas, and daydreams running through my head. This time, I decided to sit down, and type one out. Whenever I tried to type a nice, 200 page book, though, I didn't get very far. So I decided to shoot for a short story, maybe fifteen pages long. Heh heh. I turned into a 32-page story, and is just the first Adventure in an entire series of them. I've written four so far, but due to technical difficulties, I'm going to have to reedit the last two before I can publish them. I've posted the first one on here, if you want to check it out:

http://forums.furaffinity.net/showthread.php?t=51449

Feel free to comment, criticize, etc. I know it's not very good, but then, I don't take writing classes. I just started college, and I'm learning graphic design  . I'll be learning programming afterwards. Writing is more my way of documenting the many things that pop into my head. I can't get it all down, so I'll just try for a fraction of it.
I occasionally get writer's block, but very rarely. If this is the case, I do one of two things:
1. If I am sleepy, I go to sleep. It's 6 am now, I haven't been to bed, and I probably won't be going to bed. I can still write this, though  .
2. I just forget about what I am writing. I start to make up another storyline that is completely different from what I am writing. It takes your mind off of the problem, and lets you see possible answers.


----------



## Gaybriel (Sep 19, 2009)

In eighth grade, we did a writing prompt worth a large chunk of our grade for the year. We were supposed to write about a time where we displayed courage. Instead of relying on my past, I made something up and wrote what I thought was an awesome story that met the prompt's requirements. It got, oddly enough, a perfect score. And I haven't looked back.


----------



## Trevfox (Sep 19, 2009)

I started writing my sophmore year in highschool and since I couldnt really draw but still wnated to be involved in the fandom I figured I had always been good at creative writing and figured watevr ill give it a go


----------



## Reiko (Sep 19, 2009)

Started writing when I was 10. My first story was lamer than lame. D: Thanks for making me remember that story.


----------



## Bandy (Sep 20, 2009)

*I started writing in Biology in high school. My teacher was boring, we took notes 3 days out of the week, and he never did notebook checks. As long as you were writing or looked like you were, you didn't get in trouble.

I bought a new notebook and just started writing. I ended up writing through a notebook and a half before I took a break from the story. I realized that writing was really enjoyable and I wanted to do more. I enrolled in the Institute of Children's Lit and I am still writing. I don't have anything published yet but someday I hope to publish the book I started in that boring science class.*


----------



## CryoScales (Sep 20, 2009)

Oh god I remember. I joined an internet forum way back in 2005-6. I joined a roleplay for the first time and wrote a description of a roleplay character... then as it took off I just kept writing.

I eventually digressed into stories and eventually fanfics. Most of my first stories/fics were horrible. Slowly it's become better however and I hope it keeps going from there.


----------



## darkfox118 (Sep 20, 2009)

my first stories were smut.. <sigh> I hate that that was my beginnings.. certainly I'm far from an expert at any of it.. but it has lead to better things I suppose.

before that my writing was limited to school required papers. I always did well but grammar has been my curse. 

I have a few smut stories on FA too.. I admit for the most part they are an embarrassment but the reality seems to be that more people bother to read that kind of thing in comparison. 

either way, its proven to be a good outlet to let my overactive mind wander through itself when I find myself frustrated out of boredom.


----------



## blackxmaksedxninja (Sep 20, 2009)

ive always been a big thinker. i love to think of stories in my head. one day i decided to write them down. my first story was a fan fic and im still continuing it. i have posted it online in many places. spelling has always been a problem, but im working on it. i am very good at grammer and my words like to flow, as they do in my head. i have another story started and am planning on writing a couple more (including one for Tensu). ~ Tensu


----------

