A lovely group of blogger buddies is encouraging us to share our writerly Origins. I am going to approach this fest analytically (I am a math teacher after all) I plan to visit as many as I can and tally how many of you all started your writing journey as:
- youngsters, 0-tween
- teenagers, 13-19
- young adults, 20-35 or
- oldies but goodies, 36+
As my kiddies grew and didn't need me so much anymore, I pulled out my story & finished it. I researched online how to get published. Why not? That is when I found out what I had written was undesireable Chick Lit and in terrible form!
I have learned so much since then and written another novel which I've been editing my butt off. Editing is like raising children - as soon as you conquer one challenge, another comes up. But I think I'm getting close to seeing my baby graduate!
Looking forward to reading about your roots in writing!
I will post the results of my data collection on Friday!
Don't forget about the "It's getting hot in here" blogfest tomorrow <3
And for all you campaigners out there, the first challenge is Wednesday, 2/15!
It's amazing to see how different all our writing starts have been.
ReplyDeleteGlad that you finally got into the writing bug. :D
I wish editing as was fun as writing!
ReplyDeleteI like your comparison to raising children - I sometimes think my kids give me less hassle!
ReplyDeleteI hate editing lol but it's part of the job =P
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing ;)
You've approached this in typical TTT style! :)
ReplyDeleteI definitely fall under your "oldies but goodies" category...
Thanks for adding some analytical fun to the blogfest!
I'll be curious to see your tally later on. Be sure to share it!
ReplyDeleteI love your categories. And holy capotle, I fall into your youngsters category. I took some time off for Sciency behavior, but I've been writing forever.
ReplyDeleteI wish you good luck in your editing. I know exactly how you feel. It's difficult to find the end of it!
ReplyDeleteMy first attempt at a novel was also about me and my friends and our adventures. But like you I discovered it wasn't exactly what agents and publishers were looking for so it's collecting dust on the shelf.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy about editing, Tara! The writing bug hit me when I was a very little kid and learned to read on my own. Writing my own stories gave me more of what I wanted until I could get back to the library for more books to read!
ReplyDeleteYour statistical analysis reminded me of when my 7th grade social studies teacher had us do a statistics project. I decided to collect data from the newspaper obituaries to see comparative ages of death. I guess I could be somewhat morbid at times when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteWill you be reporting your statistical findings to us?
Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
Twitter: @AprilA2Z
#atozchallenge
"Editing is like raising children." Yeah, exhausting!
ReplyDeleteI started as a youngster. I wrote my first tale around age five. there may have been earlier ones but I don't remember back that far.
Interesting scientific approach! I can't wait to hear about the results.
ReplyDelete"Like raising children"--that is perfect :)
ReplyDeleteI'll be at your "graduation party"!
ReplyDeleteinteresting post..keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see the results too. Good luck with your "baby".
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome Tara, and I agree. Once you've conquered one issue, another pops up to brighten your day. *sigh* Awesome that yours is so close to graduation tho! Whoo-hoo! That's a good feeling!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your graduation:) All the best!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read the math. I like how you had some great times to write about. I also hit a wall of reality when I tried to get my first book published. Nice to know your origin.
ReplyDeletei love how you researched publishing right away. I put that off for years!
ReplyDeleteHey! Someone else who pulled out an old manuscript.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating in the blogfest.
Definitely get you on the mommying, then writing thing. Yes, every book is one step closer to letting our book babies go into that wide world. Nice to meet you via the fest!
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you on the blog fest. Interesting that most of us have discovered along the way that writing is harder than we think!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog.
Monti
Mary Montague Sikes
I will be very interested in seeing the results of your study! One thing I have learned so far is that with a LOT of writers, the writing passion has gone dormant for awhile when real life interferes.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your ORIGIN with us today! :)
Hi, Tara! Scarlett Here *grin*
ReplyDeleteI was just telling DL on his Origins post how my perspective has changed in the last 24 hours. There are so many stories similar to mine, both in the struggle and in the Life Timeline, that I am feeling less and less like the oddball out!
Do give us the math! Percentages keep me honest.
Great post! Man, editing is like raising children. I'm doing both and I have so many new gray hairs.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the results of our mathematical analysis! Does the sample skew the data in any way? That is, mathematically, will the sample be random if it only includes writers who blog, heard about this blogfest, and participated? Just wondering! As my husband and I were just discussing, my verbal SAT score whupped my math score, lol.
ReplyDeleteYAY for being close to seeing your baby graduate!! Best wishes on your editing!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you've put together a study for the Origins Blogfest! I love your "editing is like raising children" analogy, and I'm sure you'll see your "baby graduate" soon! Julie
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your graduation...we will be cheering from the sidelines.
ReplyDeleteI love that you're going around to tally the ages. But I do think it doesn't really matter when you fell in love with writing, just that you've found out you do love it.
ReplyDeleteAnd that it shuts up the voices in your heads for a while ;)
There's such as thing as undesirable chick lit? I've enjoyed learning about all the different journeys people have gone through to get to this place called Writing. Welcome to the family. May your editing go smoothly.
ReplyDeleteLoved your comparison between editing and children . . . although I think my revision work is far more troublesome than my kids at this point in their lives.
ReplyDeleteGreat to meet you on this blogfest. love the writing stats, I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your data collection.
ReplyDeleteyour newest follower,
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Hey Tara,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments and I'm intrigued to see what your research suggests :)
Ooo, that's a great idea to see what age people became writers. I like your analogy with editing and children.
ReplyDeleteahah i had a chuckle of knowing when I read this line: "Editing is like raising children - as soon as you conquer one challenge, another comes up."
ReplyDeletewhat does that mean, 'undesirable chick lit'? Just curious :)
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to see how the poll turns out. I'd be 0-tween. I used to write stories for my friends in hs. Usually in comic book form and using soap operas as inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see what the results of your tally are!
ReplyDeleteI 'wrote' stories in my head, but rarely put anything on paper until recently :)
What a great idea to tally up when everyone got started. I'm intrigued. I'll be stopping back to see what you found out!
ReplyDeleteHey, Tara. I popped over because of the ORIGINS and stayed because your topics are too flipping fun to ignore.
ReplyDeleteGreat topics, fun posts.
If I ever put one of my protags in a corset, shoot me. ;-)
I wrote my first story when I was eleven I believe. I love that you are tallying everyone and can't wait to read the results.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the editing. That is something that never seems to be done and I have to force myself to stop re-working things. :)
Great idea to gather all the data. It will be interesting to see. Those of us who did start early, it seems a large number stopped when marriage and kids came along. It's a crazy time for all of us.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine your adventures in Hotlanta! :) Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHappy to be a new follower!
I love that you're compiling! I didn't make it clear in my origin story but that took place in middle school.
ReplyDeleteOh awesome - looking forward to your analysis, Professor Tyler. ;) I'm an oldie but goodie!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found your way back to writing.
Writing a story sometimes you found on your self or in to others. just explore your imagination and easily to write want you want to.
ReplyDelete