Monday, August 22, 2011

Sparkfest: Doom Goes the Writer

"What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer?"

This is a question often put to writers. Most have a definitive answer - I do not.

I "officially" began writing in my early teens (although my mother claims I was creating pictorial stories even before I could write - and has very embarrassing proof). This was a time of ravenous reading and little notice where one book ended and another began, and since I can barely recall what I read last month, I cannot even fathom what title or author could've sparked my passion to write.

The vague memories I have of my first stories are those of slavery and Star Wars (not in the same story, mind you - although, actually, maybe a little...). I recall being quite fascinated by historical novels at one point, mostly in the form of Dear America journals. I began writing one of my own, about the unlikely friendship of a plantation owner's daughter and a young slave girl who worked the fields (original, I know). So I guess a Dear America book could've started me down the writerly road.

But around the same time I also created an entire family tree of force-strong, darkside-tempted smugglers in the Star Wars universe, spawned by Episode 1 and a subsequent obsession to chronologically read every Star Wars book ever written by man and alien. So one could say Star Wars brought out my passion for writing as well.

Which came first? I'm not entirely sure. Whenever I think back, I recall being crouched in front of an ancient Apple, handwritten notes beside the keyboard and a floppy grinding in the drive. Exactly which story I had been writing, I do not know. I was probably too busy trying to stay focused and not wander off to read my latest inspiration from the library.

This post is brought to you by Sparkfest.
Visit http://www.christinetyler.net/p/sparkfest.html to find out more.

11 comments:

  1. I read a lot of Star Wars books when I was younger, loved going deeper into that universe. Great spark story. =)

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  2. Star Wars is definitely inspiring!

    You post makes me wonder what you write nowadays.

    The Write Soil

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  3. Hello, Skye! I remember Dear America books. I wrote a couple things in that style too, hahaha. I'll have to dig through my old writings and see what I can find. Good memories!

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  4. Oooo I need to check out the alien written Star Wars books--I bet they are great :) We are an accumulation of all the books we've read. Great post.

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  5. Oh, the Dear America books... Letters From Rifka, too! I was a huge Boxcar Children fan, too. =]

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  6. Thank you everyone for your comments!

    @Patricia Lynne: Star Wars books do seem a universal read (no pun intended =).

    @Dawn M Hamsher: I write all sorts of things now - mostly fantasy though. Surprisingly, not much Sci-Fi.

    @Laura Marcella: Yeah, writing this post made me want to dig out my beginning stories too. But I believe they are mostly on floppy discs, and my computer doesn't have a drive for them anymore! =(

    @Angie Cothran: Finding a bookseller that carries them is the challenge. ;)

    @Gina - Ooo, Boxcar Children! How I loved them so. I think I got into the 80s-90s before I finally got sick of them. I tried to read one a few years ago and was stunned at just how bad they were! Children are so easily entertained...

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  7. My brother is in to the Star Wars books - especially if they are to do with the Sith. I've read a couple of the novelisations - episodes 1 and 2.

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  8. I love historical novels. I found I learned so much about history by reading a story set in the past.

    Good luck on the Sparkfest. Hope to see you at the Write Game and share the spark there.

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  9. Star Wars is great stuff. I enjoy historical novels, too. I quite enjoy Margaret George.

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  10. Chalk me up as another Star Wars fan! The worlds, characters, action and tension are all great sources of inspiration. Thanks for sharing for Sparkfest!

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  11. At the height of my Star Wars fandom by book suddenly became a sci fi with leia-style slavery. Yeah. That was actually kind of a disaster. Haha, I'm glad it worked out in the end for both of us :)

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