A Writer's Life
When
did you start writing, and why?
I think I started writing as soon as I could hold a pencil. I know my love for writing goes way back--for as long as I can remember. The Lord gave me a family that provided not only a godly Christian heritage, but also a love for stories, reading, and language. One of my grandmothers was a riveting storyteller. Her stories, complete with descriptive details and realistic sound effects, often made shivers go up my spine. (I wish you could hear her impression of a hoot owl!)
My other grandmother came to our house for dinner once a week, and she would always place in my hands a new children’s book she had purchased just for me. .My parents read me stories continually—Bible stories, children’s books, missionary stories, fairy tales. It wasn’t long before I started reading on my own. I had a favorite tree in our backyard, and I mastered the art of climbing it with a book in my hand. I loved sitting there among the green, swaying branches and losing myself in the world of my book.
Pretty soon I started creating my own stories. I wrote stories in every spiral notebook I could get my hands on—mostly about a mouse family or about girls who had horses of their own. (I didn’t.) One story won a contest in a Christian teen magazine, and the Lord encouraged me that my dream of being a writer really was His plan for me.
>>Next: Where do you get ideas to write about?
I think I started writing as soon as I could hold a pencil. I know my love for writing goes way back--for as long as I can remember. The Lord gave me a family that provided not only a godly Christian heritage, but also a love for stories, reading, and language. One of my grandmothers was a riveting storyteller. Her stories, complete with descriptive details and realistic sound effects, often made shivers go up my spine. (I wish you could hear her impression of a hoot owl!)
My other grandmother came to our house for dinner once a week, and she would always place in my hands a new children’s book she had purchased just for me. .My parents read me stories continually—Bible stories, children’s books, missionary stories, fairy tales. It wasn’t long before I started reading on my own. I had a favorite tree in our backyard, and I mastered the art of climbing it with a book in my hand. I loved sitting there among the green, swaying branches and losing myself in the world of my book.
Pretty soon I started creating my own stories. I wrote stories in every spiral notebook I could get my hands on—mostly about a mouse family or about girls who had horses of their own. (I didn’t.) One story won a contest in a Christian teen magazine, and the Lord encouraged me that my dream of being a writer really was His plan for me.
>>Next: Where do you get ideas to write about?
