Wisteria Writers Tag (to which i am allergic OOPS) + Early Writings
6:00 AM
So I had several mild allergic reactions today. And by the time I got home from work an hour before midnight, I was exhausted and my brain refused to come up with a good blog post. Then I remembered, I was tagged for this ages ago! And it's funny because FUN FACT ABOUT HANNAH #291: I am allergic to wisteria.
When I was eleven, I stepped out on our porch and got hit across the face with a wisteria vine (the thing infests our porch and simply will not go away). A couple of hours later, a sore had appeared, and by the end of the week my left eye and nostril were swollen shut.
Fun times, right? Anyway. I was tagged ages ago by Rachael to do this tag. Sorry it's taken me so long, Rachael!
1. Which is your favorite character you've written?
This should be a hard question to answer, but it's actually not. My favorite character ever to have written was Jack from The Call of Atlantis, the book I wrote with my cousin when we were thirteen years old. He's an ESTP and he's so funny and snarky and smart and witty and just amazing and I resonate with him on a deep level that I didn't fully understand until revisiting him recently.
2. How many books have your read this year?
*grins sheepishly* one half?
3. What genre do you tend to write in?
I'm a fantasy girl at heart.
4. Have you ever written a book and then immediately trashed it?
Surprisingly no? My writing start is a little unique in that I sat down and started writing a full-blown novel, and I finished it. I didn't jump around between projects until I finally found one that stuck. I started writing, and I didn't stop.
5. How many books have you completed?
I have written 6 complete first drafts. Of those six, four of them have been through draft 2. And of those four, only one have I moved on to draft three with. I have yet to complete a third draft.
6. Do you work on multiple projects at a time?
Not usually. I sometimes take a break (like when I wrote my Baby Book in July for nano when I was halfway done with draft 2 of The Dream Walkers.
There were a few more questions, but I decided to stop here so I could incorporate another tag, since I'm sort of along that stream.
Abbiee created this ingenious tag a while ago, and I've been wanting to do it ever since. I have a sad amount of trash stories though. Like I said, I didn't jump around much.
But that first series I wrote was enough embarrassment for an eternity.
I'll talk about this book series as a whole.
What horrendous book did you write as a child?
*The series was called Eliza's Tale.
*I thoroughly planned out each of the nine books it consisted of, including a tenth book that featured the main characters' children.
*I only wrote the first two books, both by hand.
*The main character, Eliza, was a Very Special Muffin Child who was the Only One who could save both our world, and the world she was taken to (after getting kidnapped by evil bad guys).
*There was an evil ice princess. (my favorite line by her was her response to my main character's question--"what's a Finder?"--to which she broke out of her evil monologue and said, "It's complicated. I'll explain later."
*It was basically a monster stew of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and The Last Airbender.
What did you learn from it?
The only reason I have the guts to tell you about this series I want to cringe over is the beautiful and surprising fact that what precious little of this series I put onto paper taught me how to write.
It taught me how to craft characters that are flesh and blood and have problems and flaws and aren't perfect or desired by everyone. It taught me how to make villains that aren't pure evil and don't make long speeches every two pages.
It taught me how to let my creativity run absolutely bonkers, and to take the craziest of ideas and make sense of it. It taught me how to create a world that my characters could walk across and my fingers could sketch and my plot could dance upon.
This book series that I cringe over is what made me the writer I am today. It taught me everything. Because you have to do a bunch of stupid, embarrassing writing before you can figure out how to craft gold. You have to have some silly, cliche ideas before you can become an imaginative creation queen.
You have to stumble and fall a little before you realize you have wings and can fly. I poured literally thousands of pages into this series and millions of words. I have five notebooks stuffed to the brim with ideas dedicated solely to this series. I spent four whole years of my life on this, countless hours of getting up early and writing with burning eyes, or staying up in the wee hours and scribbling till my hand ached too much to write another word.
Instead of cringing, I have to smile. Because these words, these stories, made me into who I am. And that makes them some of the most precious and beautiful things I own.
What about you? What books did you write as a child? Tell me a bit about your favorite character you've ever written!
<3
21 comments
*scrambles in like a very bad fren because I haven't had time to comment on ANY POSTS LATELY* But I is here now! And this post was quite fun, I loved reading about your old writings (and they've ALMOST matched mine for being very cringe-worthy xD). And my first story was THE EXACT SAME, with the special smol child that was the ONLY ONE that could save the world (except mine featured a lot of talking horses xD). And my favorite character I've written ... uhm uhm DO NOT ASK SUCH THINGS xD. I love Cerulean to death, but I also love Asher Grey and Raven Gale ... I dunno, it would take me forever to chose a favorite and then I would feel like I was BETRAYING ALL THE OTHERS xD.
ReplyDeleteBut anyways - epic post, Hannah! I had fun reading it <3.
~ Savannah | Scattered Scribblings
Aw, it's okay I'VE BEEN THE SAME *pouts* I haven't been commenting on blogs like I want to. I'm working on that this year though! That's one of my goals :) And YASSSS CERULEAN ASDJKFHASDLKJFHASLKDJHF. I can't wait to beta that story.
Deleteloved this post! and lol, at least you had creatively embarrassing stories? mine were just plain embarrassing like, BURN THEM WITH FIRE PLZ. and ohh, fav character I've ever written? HOW COULD YOU ASK SUCH A THING. perhaps my MC in my latest novel?? she's a pretty interesting character to write. much feels + emotions + me torturing xD haha, anyways, great post, Hannah!
ReplyDeletesarah » the introverted extrovert
Aw, your poor charrie *hugs her* But, torture is a part of the job, right? :P
DeleteThe first books I wrote were clichéd American Middle School stories xD I used to be really into learning about America before I was a teen. I have only written two books and the series is about a girl and her best friend who often humiliate the Popular Blonde mean Girl. It's basically Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide meets Lizzie McGuire.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite (main character) is the first character I wrote like me. The first Nigerian-Irish character I wrote. She's so similar to me (though the younger version) that I'm kinda scared to want to try publishing such stories. She's not really a funny character (that's her best friend) but she's not boring.
Awww that sounds so cute! And are you afraid to try to publish it because it's really close to your heart? I totally get that.
DeleteAlso, hearing about your notebooks filled with ideas was really nice ^^
ReplyDeleteAw, I'm glad! I think I've posted pictures on here before of them. I flip through every now and then for a smile and some nostalgia :)
DeleteLoved this! The first story I ever wrote was, well... A tiny picture book with scribbles and stickers about a party with Dora the Explorer. xD I still have it, and WOW I've come quite far from that point. My first work as more of a "real" writer was a fantasy story about a wanted criminal who freed slaves and stole from the rich and gave the poor, plus the cocky bounty hunter sent to catch her. Maybe one day I'll fix it up, who knows?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite character to write about?! I'm going to pretend that I don't play favorites when it comes to my novels and keep my lips zipped. xD
Micaiah @ Notebooks and Novels
Awww! I loved Dora the Explorer when I was little :P The only thing I remember is lots of "hola!"s and "sniper no sniping!" And that sounds like a super fun novel! Kind of like a Robin Hood-esque story? You should definitely revisit it, if you feel led to it!
DeleteLove posts like these! It's interesting to see how you started. I wrote a full novel as my first project too!
ReplyDeleteAw, that's awesome! And thank you, I'm glad you liked it :)
DeleteAw I love this! <3 It's so fun to hear about your past projects! You had so much dedication to them, and that's the important thing. :) Favourite character? Ahhh how can you ask such a thing? ...Adam. I will say Adam from an old story, because he was sassy and smart but really caring. :P And I just love him. xD
ReplyDeleteSorry, for some reason it posted my comment twice. xP
DeleteOoooh Adam! *grins eagerly* Do I get to hear more about this charrie?? What's his personality type??
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe first "book" I ever wrote was- well, I'd say I burned it and buried the ashes? except I didn't. And now I regret that because I lost a dare with Kenzie and must pUBLISH IT ON MY BLOG. Help. I can't even say I learned valuable writerly lessons from it, because all I learned was to see when my writing was a true horror. xD
ReplyDelete- Jem Jones
Oh my goodness YOU'RE GOING TO PUBLISH IT ON YOUR BLOG??? WHAT??? *gapes* Dude. I have so much respect for you right now. But also WHYYYY??? Why would someone make you do that AHH *clutches heart at the thought of having to post my original work online*
DeleteIt... was a dare. I shared my NaNo goal and agreed to do a dare (unknown at the time) if I didn't make it. Annnd... I didn't make it. There were worse dares, though! (Everyone contributed one - mine was to let a sibling/friend who you did NOT want in control of your blog write the next post.)
DeleteWow, you're so brave! But that's actually a good idea, cause you had to have been super motivated! :P
DeleteNooo that allergy sounds SO painful. I'm really allergic to bees/honey but my family didn't know until I was sick and my mum tried to give me some herbal medicine...with honey in it. 😭😂 Least to say my throat swelled completely up and it did not improve my cold lmao. 😂😂😂 (I SURVIVED THOUGH. PLOT TWIST.) Anyway. Allergies suck.
ReplyDeleteAlso I loved reading this! I love hearing about everyone's writerly backstories eep. I started writing purely because my little sister (she was 7 and I was 12 at the time) was writing stories and getting a lot of attention.😂 My origin story is not great haha. Ahem. But I just couldn't stop!
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