wamariannas

Autobiography

It started in first grade. I loved to read, as I still do. One day I tried to write a story like I read in books. Everything followed after that…

I have enjoyed writing for a long time. First grade was just the beginning. However, through second and third grade I didn’t really write a lot. I had, apparently, lost interest. Then came fourth grade. My cousins, Jon and Greta, were visiting. We had just watched “Cheaper by the Dozen” and I was feeling strangely thoughtful. I suddenly came up with the brilliant idea of making a family with two dozen children in it! My cousins loved the idea, and so, with my little sister, we went to the park to get out of my crazy house and think up names for the members of that family. Getting lost in our work, we made the Lopez family, the youngest children – Charlotte and Michael – being 9 months old, and the oldest – Margaret and Charles – being 17. After we made up all the children, we realized that there were only 22, instead of the 24 that we had planned. We decided that 22 children was enough, and went into the details in the family, including what instrument(s) they played and what the house looked like. I made the main character Liz, and began writing. That story led me into the writing world.

My dad encouraged the work, as he also loves to write. He, as well as my mom, has been a main character in my writing life. No matter how frustrated I become, he has always been there for me, telling me that I can do it, often giving me ideas for my stories. In fact, he was the one who suggested that I form a group; a writers group. So in fourth grade, a couple of my friends and I made up a group called the Fourth Grade Story Wizards. Amanda and I wrote stories/poems, and Danielle drew pictures to go with our stories/poems. The Fourth Grade Story Wizards encouraged the Lopez Family, and I wrote up to 36 pages.

Today, the Lopez family is unfinished, paused at the 36 pages. I have, however, started a lot of other stories, all unfinished. I think up my stories by starting with the families. I feel that I should know about the person that I am writing about, from their best friend's name to their dad's career. That is the stage where I lose most of my ideas. I look at what I have written, and have no idea how I will piece together all the information to create an interesting story. Two of the families that have gotten past the family stage into the writing stage are the Kozlowski and Tchaikovsky families. Both of them are about 5 pages long, which, for me, is a lot.

Also, in elementary school, one of my teachers, Mr. Polack, made a writing group in which anyone in fifth grade could be in. I went into it, and in that group, I wrote the story "Cindy Bella," an adaption of Cinderella from the stepmother's point of view. It was seven pages long, and went into much detail, but Mr. Polack loved it.

I want to take my writing skills a long way, so that I can become a writer or journalist when I grow up. I hope that being in writer's guild will help bring my goal closer to me.