Hey everyone!
Today, I thought I’d show you guys a little snippet from my past writing. Now keep in mind, we all had to start somewhere. And that I am putting myself in an embarrassing situation on purpose.
Let me set the scene. This was written in 2011 (practically 100 years ago) in a time when I thought writing was a fun little thing to do and not an actual craft. All I knew was that I loved storytelling, but I don’t think I considered myself a serious writer yet. I believe I was a senior in high school (or possibly a junior) when I got this piece of paper with a list of all the college majors. I was to choose one, a decision that would impact my future (because you know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life at 17). Checking off the ‘Creative Writing’ box seemed most appealing to me, at the time. Who knew it would be so important to me today?
This also dictated how I was to go about my senior project, which is sorta like a test drive for the field a student is interested in. Basically, for my project, I worked with an English teacher after school and I wrote a couple of short (horrible) stories that she critiqued and gave me notes on. I love super heroes and comics, even back then when I was young and impressionable. So I created my own super hero…. Kinda. The character’s name was Joey, he had some supernatural abilities, and was a guy juggling his masked vigilante life with his love life.
Don’t judge me, I didn’t know any better. Here is a snippet of one of those stories.
Wow, Majorly cringing.
Like I said, we all had to start somewhere. Looking back at old stories, I really can learn from my past mistakes. Here’s just a few I can pick out. (Translation: Me about to vent about how terrible this was)
- Fudge, look at that giant chunk of an intro paragraph.
- What a grabber of a first line. “The city was dark and gloomy” Really hooks in the reader right off the bat.
- I don’t think I knew about the ‘Show, Don’t tell’ rule at the time. That whole first paragraph could probably be condensed into like three sentences.
- It sounds how I would normally talk, not how someone else would. Big narration problem there.
- Are we watching Powerpuff girls? “Forces of evil” Seriously?
- “I want you to break up with me” Who was I? Trying to be so dramatic. Damn.
- Did my younger self actually think this was good writing?
Well, there you guys have it, an embarrassing look back at my old work. Don’t worry, I have no problem critiquing and making fun of my writing. Let me know what you guys think, and maybe take a look at your old cringe worthy stuff. I always love hearing from you.
Write with heart,
Lady Jabberwocky
Lady Jabberwocky 