First, be different

[katiefoolery]

It's writing week!  Yes,you had no idea this was the case, did you?  It's all true, though.  It's writing week and we are discussing firsts.  All of your firsts, from your first first to your last first.  To date.

I must admit, I'm a huge fan of writing week.  It's not surprising, really.  After all, it means I get to ramble on about writing and I may have mentioned once or twice how much I like doing this.  The only problem with rambling on about writing is that I'm excessively capable at it.  This makes it very difficult to fit my thoughts into the space of four minutes, but I managed somehow.  And as a bonus (coming, as they do, at no extra cost), I even included sun-flare and video saved at the wrong resolution!  It's not my fault; it played in perfect widescreen on my computer.  How was I to know YouTube wouldn't approve?  The good news is that I have learnt how to appease said website and my next video will be absolutely perfect, resolution-wise.  As opposed to this week's squishedness and last week's tininess.

So I believe a small, anticipatory yay is in order: YAY.

But to return to the firsts.  This week, we fivedotnerds are discussing our writing firsts.  When did you write your first story?  What was your first publication?  And so on.  I decided to talk about some slightly different firsts in my video, as you will see for yourselves. :D

And as a bonus, LJ-only feature, I'll list another couple of firsts here.

The first character to take over a story without permission was Chaque.  She was meant to be a nothing character with a couple of backstory-advancing lines.  Then she "dropped a reluctant curtsey" and suddenly she had a personality, attitude... and an overwhelming desire to steal the story.  Which she did.  Quite successfully.  She's single-minded, slightly psychotic and has a tendency to burn things... and I love her.

Although, it's a little worrying to have her in my head sometimes.  You never know what may inexplicably go up in smoke when you're not looking.

The first time I ever won a prize in a writing competition was when I was in year eleven.  It was third prize and it was worth thirty dollars and I can't even tell you how excited I was when I opened the envelope with the certificate and prize inside.

The first character to wake me up at unwelcome times of the night with story ideas that MUST BE WRITTEN DOWN NOW was Jane.  That girl had serious issues with letting me sleep at times.  Lucky for her it's impossible to dislike her... even when you're crawling out of bed at 2am to type up notes so she'll shut up and LET ME SLEEP, dammit.

What are your writing firsts?  What are the most significant things that have happened to you as a writer?  Tell me all about it.  :)

Comments

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

First motivation to actually be a writer:

I was in 9th grade. I had to write a story. I'd been writing fanfiction (back before I knew it was fanfiction) for a long time, but I'd never written anything really original. The assignment was 5 pages; I turned in 10. I still treasure that old story because, written on the title page, is the single comment: "When are you going to get this published?"

Even though I shudder a little when I read the story now (it would need a good deal of refinement to be publishable), I still keep it to remind me that I can write if I sit my butt down and do it. ^_^

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

That's a fantastic story and I love the teacher who wrote that comment. What a perfect thing to say - no wonder you've kept it and treasured it.

Also, this is surely the most opportune time to ask how your writing resolutions or aims are going. Soooo... how are they going? :D

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

*shifty eyes* Ahh...mmm...well...

LOOK! SOMETHING SHINY!

In other words, I have not been writing much at all lately. I really need to get back to it, but serious writing may have to wait until after May (I have many projects for other people with deadlines). :(

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Oooh, shiny things! My favourite! :D

I know exactly what you mean about other things getting in the way. My GYWO count is going horribly, so I'm going to take advantage of these holidays in order to sort myself and my priorities out. With any luck, we'll both be back on track soon.

[everydayjoy.livejournal.com]

WAGGA WAGGA!! That's near my old stomping ground. Sort of.

Well I am supposed to be working, so I'll make this quick, but you pretty much sound like you were a child genius. Plus you have a great memory. I really can't remember many of my "firsts".

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

A child genius? Goodness, no. I just wasted a lot of time writing stories. :D

A great deal of those firsts just became stuck in my head as though they were determined to be remembered. If you do ever recall any of yours, I'd love to hear about them. :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I have never been to Wagga Wagga before, so I'm hoping it's nice. Ish. :D Whereabouts was it you used to live?

[crazedturkey.livejournal.com]

WAGGA WAGGA! Whooo!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

This time tomorrow, we shall be whooo-ing together! :D

That sounds so wrong.

But I don't care.

WHOOOOO!

I can't wait to get up at 5:30am... O.o

[erinmacha.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm - firsts. I know it's supposed to be about writing, but my first story was about an atom. And I don't remember why, but I do remember that my brother and my mom were my first audience as I told them about this atom, traveling around my thumb. I think I was 11. They were very entertained.

The first story I remember writing was in seventh grade. The science teacher wanted us to write a story from the view point of a snake. I remember this story because the teacher was exteremly impressed by my snake view point and read it in front of the class. O.o

My first fanfiction - I'm embarrased to say - was a Mary Sue, before I knew what a mary sue was. Thankfully I found out what a mary sue was before I finished the story and posted it. O.o Even though my goal was to get Vegeta and Goku together it would have made a very bad impression on the fandom. Still - I have to wonder why there aren't more 'back stories' for Vegeta-sei and the kais in the fandom.

And that was an awesome April Fools by the way. *thumbs up*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

That's such a bizarre topic for a first story - I love it. Actually, both of your stories about stories are fascinating because it sounds like you were almost going out of your way to bring creativity into something that might not necessarily be considered creative. Which is several kinds of awesome. :D

I think pretty much everyone's first fic is a Mary Sue - it's unavoidable. It's just that some people have the forethought not to post it and others... don't.

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

you know what, I don't think I've ever had a character I've hated. Certainly not one that's stuck in my head. I enjoy the characters that people are supposed to hate.

Oh, no, wait. Yanna. I actually went through a long stage of hate with her. Still think I hate her just a little bit. Whinging whining cow.

Hug Fred for me! And have a ball in Wagga! I wish I was there so much *sigh* so take lots of photos. :D

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It's strange, because I've created characters who were absolute jerks and some part of me still liked them. Whereas this girl was supposed to be friendly and supportive... but she just did not want to be that way at all.

Aww, but Yanna was fun. In a slightly angsty way.

I wish you were coming to Wagga, too! Dammit! There'll be heaps of photos, don't worry. :D And then stuff is happening in July. :D :D

[arctic-firefox.livejournal.com]

My first poem (at the age of 11) was a collaborative effort with a friend when were studying Aboriginal culture in grade 5. It was published in the school newsletter and an indigenous magazine.

That may well have been the day I moved away from the novel-writing ambitions I'd nursed since the age of seven or eight towards short stories and poetry, but it probably took me about twelve years to realise that.

Hence, I have no anecdotes about characters, because I'm not good at creating them - I don't have the patience for it. I prefer places, much to the amusement of my partner, who has similar stories to everyone else here (characters who hijack stories, etc.). So all the stuff that's still in my head is a maze of exotic and complicated locales which is probably more suited to short stories and poetry.

I should write them down someday soon.

Otherwise, the first poem I wrote of which I'm still proud and stands up quite well to my endless stream of self-criticism is "Towards Solaris", which the Obernetters here may recall :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Wow, what an encouraging start to the whole writing thing! It must have been so exciting to have something published at eleven.

I think it's fascinating the way your imagination focusses on places rather than people. It's intriguing. And it's the opposite of my imagination, which is really unhelpful when it comes to locales.

You should definitely write them down! Whenever you get the chance, write them down.