Saturday, August 5, 2017

The Early Writings Tag


'Morning, Dragons! A couple weeks ago, I wrote about finding your voice. Today, I thought I'd do Abbiee Emmons's Early Writings Tag and share some of the weird stories I wrote long before I started to discover mine.

1. S.O.U.L., WRITTEN AT AGE TWELVE*

*I GUESS I LIED A BIT ON THE GRAPHIC? Maybe it should've been "by the age of twelve" or "until the age of twelve"??

The scoop: I'd just finished The Hunger Games trilogy, and was reading Allie Condie's Matched. Thanks to a series of dreams that meshed The Hunger Games, Matched, Harry Potter, and The Heroes of Olympus, I produced a near-hundred-page dystopian with three magical schools, a government-organized matchmaking system, and some breed of brick-hurling bad boys?? There was also an elementary-school-sized playground at each school. (FORGET THE FACT THAT THE KIDS ARRIVE AT THE SCHOOL WHEN THEY'RE EIGHTEEN.)

S.O.U.L. was set in the distant future, in the year... 2015. 2015. It was like, 2013, when I wrote it. TALK ABOUT BAD PLANNING ON MY PART.

And you see that acronym? Do you know what it stands for? GOOD, BECAUSE I DON'T. (I don't think I ever figured out what to make it stand for. Maybe I just liked the ring of the title or something? Honestly, twelve-year-old me! You could've thought of something much better than that!)

What I learned:
  • PLAN. Don't just name a race with an acronym IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT STANDS FOR.
  • Plan some more. Because 2015? Really? *hysterical laughter*
  • Don't found your story upon other authors' ideas. Sure, letting their ideas inspire you is nice, but dear young, innocent me, DO NOT COPY OTHER AUTHORS' PLOTLINES.

2. HEART, WRITTEN AT AGE ELEVEN

The scoop: So this one was a medieval, Irish novel/novella (approximately sixty-some pages). The first third or so was an attempt at a dramatic display of just how wise children are (I was so wrong, yo), and the latter part was a comedy. But, of course, the only insults I knew how to use were "beast" and "fat-so", which were totally accurate for the time period.* The whole book was littered with those words.**

*Not.

**If you're curious about Heart, here's the link to a tweet thread I made back in May while I reread the comedy section.

What I learned:
  • As to the writing style itself, it actually wasn't that bad? 😂
  • Be careful with allegories. Do not display God as fictional -- even if it's by accident.
  • THINK OF BETTER TITLES.
  • THINK OF BETTER INSULTS.
  • Writing comedy is hard. *admires all the comedy writers*

3. DUCHESS, PRINCE, MANOR, WRITTEN AT AGE TWELVE-ISH

The scoop: This was my first ever fairytale retelling -- and the first ever entry I wrote for a Rooglewood Press contest. It was a Beauty & the Beast retelling, my submission to Five Enchanted Roses. The main problem was that it was a retelling of Disney's version. I never actually bothered to read the original fairytale. *blushes*

Basically, the beast was not a beast, but actually a handsome, immortal fellow named Draven and heavily inspired by Draco Malfoy. The only reasons the heroine was at all interesting was because (1) her name was Phoenix (epic, right?), (2) she wore a pretty blue dress, and (3) she was a duchess.

What I learned:
  • Read the given sources.
  • Don't retell. Reimagine.
  • Ask for / accept help.*

*My dad offered to help me edit DPM. I did not accept. Thanks my middle-schooler mindset that I knew best, I turned him down. Shortly after I sent DPM off, I discovered a horrid, humiliating array of typos. I WILL NEVER NOT ACCEPT HELP EDITING AGAIN.


4. NARA LI JOJO: JORDAN'S ARMY, WRITTEN AT AGE NINE

The scoop: I was on a Percy Jackson high. So I basically retold the entirety of books one through three as the story of a pre-tween warrior lass who could turn into a deer and communicate with animals. I set it up for a sequel that would retell books four and five, but it never happened (THANK GOODNESS). Jordan's Army was written in a purple Pirates of the Caribbean notebook over the course of a weekend, and quickly handed off to our congregation's preacher, who was sweet enough to indulge baby-me with a book review. Last I remember, I'd handed it off to a curious soul.

What I learned:
  • DO NOT COPY OTHER AUTHORS' PLOTLINES. (Hmm, this sounds familiar...)

5. HARRIET POTTER, WRITTEN AT AGE TEN

The scoop: This was a Harry Potter fan fiction, following the life of Harry's second daughter and fourth child, Harriet. I don't remember much about it, other than the expression "moldy macaroni". *makes a face at younger self's lack of insults/exclamations*

What I learned:
  • Think of better insults/exclamations (wow, this one sounds familiar, too!)


~

So I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my weird first stories. 😅

Did you write any horrendous stories as a child? How did they go? 😁

❤,

Post banner background
recovered from Pixabay.

6 comments:

  1. I. LOVED. THIS. It's so fun seeing everyone's early stories! And, honestly, yours sound really cool! I kind of adore how you meshed so many types of stories to create S.O.U.L. I mean, obviously copying plotlines is not good, but the idea sounded pretty epic! Lol.

    I think it 's cool all your early stories were inspired by books you read. A lot of people say the best way to start out writing is fanfiction, because you can get a feel for writing before delving into your own worldbuilding and character creating and such. So it's fun that you did that!

    I totally loved hearing about these! I've been tempted to join in on this tag for a while now. I may have to do it sometime!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, dear! <3

      I might rewrite S.O.U.L. one day... if I ever get through all my priority story ideas, first. ;)

      YOU SHOULD TOTALLY DO THIS TAG. It was a ton of fun! :D

      Thanks for commenting, Christine!

      Delete
  2. Oh my word, these are HILARIOUS. XD I've written only too many horrendous stories when I was younger.

    "Moldy macaroni" <~ Haha, I love it! XD

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! XD

      Oh yes, the glorious writings of our childhood... *shakes head* :P

      Thanks for commenting, Madeline!

      Delete
  3. I just plain didn't write as a child. Meaning all the stories I made up back then are growing fuzzy. I know some ideas were ripped off computer games my older brothers played. Another was from Get Smart. Me and one younger brother were secret agents, the youngest brother was some kid who'd lost his memory and called himself Mickey Me. Don't even ask why. I dont remember.
    We were also scientists and the youngest was the 'guinea pig'.

    I do remember wanting to write Cinderella and the Seven Bears once. It got some little mermaid elements added, but I never wrote it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooo, those do sound like fun retellings! And you should totally write Cinderella & the Seven Bears! :D

      Thanks for commenting, Brie!

      Delete

HELLO, FRIEND! Whether you're new to the Dragoner's realm or a Dragon-friend faithfully returning, I'M SO EXCITED TO HAVE YOU HERE. *hugs and gives you cookies*

I always make a point to respond to comments, although my replies might be a little late in the coming (thanks to that pesky li'l thing called Life™). *winks*

But again, I'm thrilled to have you here -- and commenting! All I ask is that you keep your comments clean, respectful of others, and free of spam. Comments that do not follow these guidelines will be deleted.

Feel free to drop a link to your blog; I'll be sure to stop by! <3