The Playground - Week 4 - Day 3

[clauderainsrm]

 I've been asked when Idol is going to start back up again.  My estimate is early January. Maybe I'll put the sign up sheet up (over at LJ) on New Years Eve again.  That seemed popular in the past, to start the year off with a goal of writing more in 2022! 

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We're still in Idol Minor+ though - so in the spirit of the thing: 

Who were some of the first people to encourage your writing? A parent? Teacher? Friends? Who did you that early encouragement of "This is something I should be doing?" 

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the new prompt is available at  therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1107400.html

Comments

[gunwithoutmusic]

Just this past weekend, my mother had a big yard sale, so the week before that, she was pulling things down from the attic and came across a bunch of old containers that held various things my sister and I had done going all the way back to elementary school. As I was digging through the boxes, I found no less than three "Author of the Month" awards that I had gotten in elementary school, with the awarded stories attached.

In Kindergarten, I was awarded "Author of the Month" for the riveting story, "My favorite part of the day is Calendar Corner," which I also illustrated apparently. In 1st Grade, I was awarded "Author of the Month" for a story in which my family went to an Atlanta Braves game. In 3rd Grade, I was awarded "Author of the Month" for another story that was apparently so engrossing that I can't even remember it two weeks later. I guess I can thank whoever made those "Author of the Month" selections for encouraging me to continue writing.

I did also find where my sister had been awarded "Author of the Month," and, I'll be honest, her story stuck in my mind way more than any of mine, so I'd like to paraphrase it below:

"Once there was a boy named John. One day, John was upstairs when he heard a loud crash from downstairs. He ran down the stairs and found his mother on the kitchen floor holding a knife. The kitchen window was broken.

"'A stranger broke into the house,' John's mother said. John looked at the broken window and said, 'How are we going to afford to fix this?'

"Suddenly, John had an idea. He ran upstairs to the attic and brought out a bunch of old stuff that they weren't using anymore. He told his mother, 'We'll have a yard sale to make money to fix the window!'

"'That's a great idea,' John's mother said. Then they had the yard sale, and they made enough money to fix the window and also install a burglar alarm."

Take that for what you will; it cracked me up to think that John's biggest concern upon finding his mother on the kitchen floor with a knife talking about an intruder was how to pay for the broken window.

[jake67jake]

A perfectly logical story... beginning, middle, end. Problem solved on both parts -- window and burglar issue. Your sister was a protégé and didn't realize it! ;)

[erulissedances]

I see your point, but what a fun story in its own way. I can totally see this happening (although the knife is a bit concerning). LOL

- Erulisse (one L)

[adoptedwriter]

Definitely a teacher...My 4th grade Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Ashley. Every Friday was "creative writing" time, and she would give us a prompt. Man! Did I have fun!
In 8th grade, I had another teacher, Mr. Iscman, and he was also into writing every Friday. I started a soap opera and gave him something to look forward to every week! LOL...It was about a homeless dog who became famous for solving crimes and the guy who adopts the dog was a cop, and then he meets a girl, etc...LOL

[jake67jake]

My 7th Grade English teacher -- Mr. Helinski, who, when he introduced himself the first day said, "My name is Gary Helinski. If you can't remember my last name, just remember that backwards is 'Ski in Hell.'" He was also the one that introduced me to the world of Amber (Roger Zelazny) which I love to this day.

After that, my relationship went south with my English teachers and I hated the class and subject from then on... but I still *try* to write. Just not nearly as often as I probably should.

[erulissedances]

My story for Prompt 4 is called "Laughter" and can be found here.

https://erulissedances.dreamwidth.org/820050.html

- Erulisse (one L)

[alycewilson]

I had two elementary school teachers who encouraged writing poetry and a middle as school Gifted teacher who had us writing fiction. I'm greatly indebted to all of them!