How I Started Writing {Guest Post}

Today, I am very excited to have a guest post from another very talented writer and blogger in which she tells her writing story. I did a post for her blog on the same topic, which you can read here.

Abrielle Lindsay Seattle is a girl with a hunger for a document, a nice, good book, or an excuse to use Pinterest. She writes all kinds of Christian YA books, though all are still being written or are in the first draft stage. She probably reads too much, but, hey, shouldn't everyone?

Abrielle Lindsay blogs at Ravens and Writing Desks (ravensandwriting.blogspot.com) with a couple writing friends and Books, Books, Books! (thebooksbooksbookblog.blogspot.com). She lives in Papua, Indonesia.

   How I started writing? I can remember the day fairly well, though I’m not in love with the years that followed.

    The day that I started writing was when I was in second grade, I believe, and had a journal assignment where I could write anything I wanted. I had been quite excited about the one. I was flipping through a drawing book to see who I was going to write about. (That’s where I always found my “character inspiration”) And I landed on a chimpanzee. Thus Benny and Sandey were born (BTW, that’s Sandy with a ‘E’ added in) and their world .

   I wrote on that over the weekend and was allowed to continue for several weeks. The book ended with five chapters and more pictures than paragraphs. I was proud of it, I admit (though I don’t feel exactly the same way now…) and when typed up it ended up at about 32 pages—with space of course for all of those pictures.

   From that point on, I knew that I was going to be a writer. When I got a journal for Christmas a month or two later, I started to write Benny and Sandey’s background and history (how they met; how lonely they were when vacations took place; etc.). I was very surprised when I drew no pictures in this book—it just seemed better without them (and believe me, they are).

   Then I moved Indonesia four months later, I hadn’t finished the first chapter Benny and Sandey’s second book (and it still lies like that). I have always been in love with reading—as most authors are—and I started to read even more while we were in Java.

   I realized how great and genius these books were. And I decided to copy them. Yeah, copy. I’m pretty ashamed. *ducks head low* I started several—all too numerous to count for even me. None were ever finished (and hopefully never will be), but I still have all those notebooks stuffed on my shelf.

   My writing slowed down for a while with the weight of school and playing outside with my Indonesian friends. But then one day a new idea hit me with, yes, another journal assignment. I think it was called Under My Bed: Where things came alive when they were set under a girl’s bed. I again drew more pictures than writing on the pages—but I liked it.

   I think I might have actually made it to chapter three, and then I got some major writer’s block and put it away. Then I moved to Papua and wasn’t writing.

   Writing was put at the back of my mind, I wasn’t going to write. I instead fed myself with numerous books, so many I’ve lost count. I mean, my day seemed to be wake up, eat, do school, eat, finish school, read, eat, read, sleep. During that phase of my life I got in trouble for reading too much. Being told that I should do something else.

   Well, I was like that for about a year. Getting in trouble because of the reading habits I had developed. January and February of 2013 went by fast and then two of my friend recommended the books series to me called Pet Trouble (which I totes recommend too).

   After long weeks of being tormented of how good they were and how I should go to the library and check them out, I did.

   And oh my gosh, that was the best choice of my life. After reading Mud-Puddle Poodle, I just knew that I had to write a contemporary book. I just knew it.

   But, I was by then ashamed about copying other books, and so I didn’t know what to write.

   I sat with a new notebook for about an hour with a pen in hand. What was this story supposed to be about? How could I write a book that wasn’t copied?

   It seemed impossible at first, but then it struck me. An unpopular girl who wants friends and the main part in a play.

   Ok, that doesn’t sound brilliant now, but it sure did when I knew nothing about writing. And thus I began writing about Carla Jane and Beth.

   I started writing about Carla Jane every night. Every night. I was probably about *shrugs* 32 pages into the story when something snapped inside of me and sent a message to my brain saying, ‘What am are you doing, TW? This is ridiculous.’ And my writing went downhill—again.

   About two weeks later I was scrolling through Britt’s blog, Daughter of the King (one of the best blogs ever, by the way) and saw a button to Go Teen Writers. I thought, ‘Huh, I should go there,’

   I clicked the link, and that was even better than checking out the Pet Trouble series! The blog was ok and it seemed to have two authors who knew what they were doing. But I wasn’t interested… until I read a post two day later saying they were going to have a writing contest.

   Then I was grinning at the computer. I entered, didn’t win, but entered. Got feedback that only encouraged me to write a little more.

   BUT. That’s not all. They were going to have a WRITING RETREAT about a month later. I was up for that, I started writing again and was surprised at how easy Carla Jane’s flowed.

   The writing retreat proved to be very encouraging. A couple people read the first six or seven chapters of my book and said they liked it. That encouraged me even more.

   (BTW, I totes recommend GTW (Go Teen Writers) for writers, it was no mistake that I was whisked away there ;)

   I finished the first draft about two weeks later, then immediately started book two.

   So. My writing journey is probably different than most, but I lived, but am very glad that I love writing so much now.

   (And for the record, I no longer write in notebooks or at night, I get up at 5 am and write my books on the computer)

   Thank you Monica for having me, and sorry for those who are reading it and thinking that I like to talk too much, because it’s true. ;) Thanks again! You can check out Monica’s post that she did for my blog here: How I Started Writing *By Monica*

Thanks for coming, Abrielle!