An Attempt
I remember being young in my first writing class. I was six years old and I was in first grade. Like many others my age afraid to express my opinions and thoughts to those I was not comfortable with. I would often spend my time alone meandering outside in the grass. It was in that state that I found my creativity. No I could never color, I couldn’t make origami, and i couldn’t draw anything that looked remotely like a stick figure; but what I could do was imagine. My mind was taken to places only seen by animators and comic book writers. I loved the way I could put together similes that would describe the way I felt. It was the beginning of the greatest relationship I have ever had.
As I grew I slowly lost my powers to dream because they were replaced with words. Words like math, logic, and reason. I wrote very little, next to never. We were encouraged to think outside of the box but then laughed at by our peers for being different, unique, and original. Discouraged I dropped my idea of being a writer and settled for being average: an admirer of the art of english but never anything above and beyond.
Then when I was twelve I met another admirer of writing. She like myself enjoyed the sound of clicking keyboards and the way that words combined could create and sound like magic. We would write stories together and relished one another’s company. We understood the need to be weird and enjoyed our girlish stories.
We grew apart and I stopped writing all together. Bogged down by structure, concrete detail commentary commentary, 5 paragraph essays and my new high school adventures. It seemed as if there was no time for writing or childish dreams in my future. My confidence grew and I became the person I had always dreamed. I was strong, I was successful, and I WAS SAM; but something was missing. Oh yes my dreams of writing. Where were they? Abandoned, I thought I had no future in writing, no talent. It was in one of those dark days when I found my old laptop. It contained stories, ideas, and talent beyond my expectation of myself. So now I cannot let myself down. I must attempt.
Sam Hansen
50 minutes
I really like the way you ended your passage (if that is what it is appropriately called). There are a few mistakes in here, but you do write really well. I find it odd that you knew what a simile was in first grade. I'm pretty sure I didn't, but that's really cool if you did. I think if you went into detail a little bit more, this would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe everyone has written a piece such as this at one time or another. Whether it was forced upon them or came from a true inner desire "to write why it is I write." They mostly turn out like this. "When I young..." and then an accountancy of when it was they found their calling. Then goes on to describe what a wonderful writer they are now, but that is never markedly seen in the actual writing. That's kinda the point. Though I do enjoy some highlights in this particular passage, I would have much rather read something that illustrated your actual talent. If you are a writer, SHOW IT! Embrace it lovingly with each well-crafted sentence and syntactical ambiance. But please, don't just say you write. Prove it. And then ultimately you will prove it well. There is limitless potential here, but I can see that you are holding back. Let go and just write.
ReplyDelete-Miki Smith
Your blog is very inspiring for me. Your desire to be a writer is amazing. I really enjoyed how you put it simply. It's not too much to take in; it's just right. Like a piece of cake with the right amount of frosting on top. You go girl! Be a writer. You are amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe joy of writing is revision. The difficult part about writing "I am a writer" is that you can (I) begin to feel pressure: if I am a writer, then shouldn't everything I write be perfect? No. Definitely not. A good place to start is by determining that writing is something you want to do and go from there. This may be an origin essay.
ReplyDeleteWhile I understand Miki's comment on showing that you are a writer, I also see this as a lovely start. In short, I think that everyone should worry less about being a writer and focus on enjoying the process of writing. Miki's last thought is well stated for pretty much everyone: let go and just write.