A note from Headbuzzer: This week, Clare Vanderpool will be guest posting on the blog about her new book, Navigating Early! We're giving away 15 ARCs right here on the blog! Just leave a comment on Clare's posts when she updates and we'll be picking winners from the comments, so update your mailing address! We'll announce the winners at the end of this week on our ARC & Contest Winners board!
How I Became an Author by Clare Vanderpool
"A long time ago, high on a lonely hilltop, there lived an old woman."
That was the first sentence of an early writing assignment. Our whole class was supposed to write a story using that same opening line. Well, I was hooked! I loved it! I loved the process of fleshing out a character, creating conflict, suspense, tension. I enjoyed describing the setting in sensory detail so that the page becomes a window open to sounds, smells, and a crystal clear view.
That early experience of writing stayed with me and the desire to write remained strong. But, strangely, for many years I didn’t write. Those creative writing assignments dried up in high school and college and life was busy and full. My saving grace during those years was reading. Lots and lots of reading.
I have always been a reader, a lover of story. So even in the years when the writing was sparse, other peoples’ stories nourished me and helped keep that dream of writing alive. Writers like Madeleine L’Engle, Scott O’Dell, J.R.R.Tolkien, and Laura Ingalls Wilder, and later, Wendell Berry, Willa Cather, Mark Twain, and Harper Lee. They carried me along.
Years later, I decided it was time to put pen to paper again. And my stories were still there. They’d never left. I found I still enjoyed pondering over a story. I loved getting quiet enough to hear the characters’ voice. I even discovered a new element of writing that I hadn’t really experienced in my early days. The element of surprise. That moment when something happens in my story that I didn’t expect. Something that changes the story. And sometimes changes me.
Writing for me can be challenging, demanding, thrilling, lonely, sometimes joyful, and sometimes heartbreaking. But always, it’s a gift. One that I am grateful for everyday.
Evie: When I read, I also get encouragement to write. I love that you said writing is a gift. It is to the author as well as the reader. :)
Paigers97: I agree, being able to create living people ( not literately) from just words is an unique gift that is usually taken for granite. I love to write and every time I create just one character I feel a sense of accomplishment. :) I hope you have a good time here.
Books_Rule: That's wonderful. I'm glad you decided to write again! Writing truly is a gift.
bamayankee: That's awesome that you were able to come back to something you love after being away and it was just there waiting for you. I've never been a writer, or wanted to be a writer, but I definitely appreciate all those who can write because I am a lover of books and wouldn't have much at all to read without authors like you : )
Celeste_pewter:
I love the idea that all of your stories were just quietly waiting for you, for a moment when you were ready to put pen to paper again.
Can also relate to the idea that reading is a saving grace. I feel the same way, especially about Willa Cather!
Synchro_Reading: I loved To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :) It's great that you started writing again!
chelleyreads:
That is a great assignment and I'm quite to give it a go--writing a story with that opening line.
Harper Lee is one of my favorite authors of all time. There are no words to describe the amazingness that is To Kill a Mockingbird.
Gorelenore:
Thank you for sharing.
ElizabethK: I would have to say that Madeleine L'Engle is my favorite author! I love knowing that other people love her work as well. And to think. Your name is on the Newberry list with her!
KindredDreamheart: I think it's harder to generate a story from preset guidelines, but then I rebel against most things. Structure is definitely what separates writers from non-writers.
Tiffasaurus: I love those writing assignments. It's so much fun to see how different everyone's story turns out. It would be cool to have a story starter periodically on RB. :)
Sayomay: Awesome!