My Writing 'Career' - The Early Years

When you are a child, no creative outlet is foreign to you. Art, music, performance, writing, whatever; you can do it all because you're just having fun. At this point, there's no pressure to be 'good'. Adults will look at, perhaps even praise, an odd scribble of yours.

I was really no different.

I drew acceptably but not well. Replicating cartoon art was within my skillset, but nothing very realistic. I never really played a musical instrument but I can whistle after a fashion and sorta of keep a beat so I'd tap out rhythms. I and my friends would lip sync to my Muppet records, each of us having assigned characters to 'perform' for the entertainment of the adults in the room. For that matter, I even did some acting in public, for a grade school talent show. I don't remember if I was good or not. Probably not.

It only made sense that I'd try to write as well. I did on occasion. In fact our little group of friends tried writing a collective story, each chapter written by another person, featuring us friends as the 'stars' of the story. I seem to remember finding my page and a half of uncompleted chapter at one point. Not sure if I still have it. What's important now is that I remember that it didn't seem weird that we would TRY to write something. It was natural. I didn't do that much with the feeling at the time but it was normal for me to want to write.

Then I went to middle school. Then it didn't just seem normal. It would actually happen.