My journey to Writing.com

My Journey to Writing.Com



I have been writing stories since I was a little girl.  One day I was looking through an old binder my mom put together the Christmas I was fifteen and found several stories I’d written in third grade.  My favorite one was about a little mouse named Mousie who travels around the world in a hot air balloon.  That year I won an award for creative writing.  In seventh grade, my best friend told me the best Christmas present I could give her was copies of all the stories I’d written. Junior year, my English teacher, who was nearly impossible to please, told me I had a gift.  I wanted to be a professional writer, but alas, I went into speech pathology, which I thought was a more practical field.

         

         I continued writing as a hobby through high school and into college.  I enjoy writing fiction, not papers or any of that scholastic nonsense  I love making up stories about people and places that become as much a part of me as my heartbeat.  I had been working on one particular story since I was fifteen.  At the age of 26, I decided the bulk of that story was implausible and just plain silly.  So I gutted it, getting rid of everything but the core characters, location and the relationship between them.  I am still working on that story today.



         This past winter, I started listening to a lot of classic literature.  I have a hard time reading many of the classics but enjoy listening to them, either on my MP3 player or CD.  I would listen to these masterpieces while playing computer or Gameboy games!  Believe it or not, that combination really works. At least for me!



I said to myself, I want to write like this.  I want to create a masterpiece like Oliver Twist or Sense and Sensibility.  Just a few weeks ago, I started reading Of Human Bondage and was rededicated to create a work of fiction that would stand the test of time.



         In March of this year, I was told I may be laid off next year.  That is also when I started having writers block: I knew who my characters were and what they did but  I couldn’t figure out how to get them there.  I needed feedback.  I also needed an idea, a spark for new short stories. 



In April, I was told it was official: no job next year.  In attempt to keep my anxious mind and heart busy, I started looking for a writers support group.  That is how I found, and became a member of, Writing.com. 



Feedback I have gotten on this site about my story has been phenomenal.  I also like the writing contests.  Once I see the prompt-poof!-I’m off and running with an idea.  As my life changes drastically, I hope I continue to write, receive feedback on my work, and perhaps achieve the greatest dream of all: publication.