Friday, November 23, 2012

How and Why Did I Become a Writer?

Not long after I learned to read (I cut my teeth on The Wizard of Oz), I developed a strong urge to tell stories of my own. That is: I wanted to write!

I decided to write my first story when I was five or six years old. I borrowed a pencil and a piece of paper from my mother and asked her what I should write my story about.
“Write about what you know about,” she advised me.
So I did. The story came out something like this: “Johnny and his mother went to the circus. They saw clowns. They had fun. They came home. The end.”
My mother was proud of me. (Of course. That’s what mothers are for.) But when I showed my story to my brother, Neil, who was nine years older than I, he said, “It’s not a real story. A real story needs conflict.”
That put me in a quandary. At the age of six, I had no conflict in my life, so I couldn’t write a real story if I were to write about what I knew about. That put my writing career off for another ten years or so.
Then I started reading the novels of Richard Bissell, and I thought to myself: I can do this. I tried it, and I found I was right: I could do this. By that time I was a teenager, so of course there was conflict in the life I knew so well; it goes with the territory.
I haven’t turned back since. I haven’t supported myself with my writing (not many writers do), but I’ve never stopped writing, and in the meantime I’ve worked in the written word: as a student, a reader, a bookseller, an editor, a ghostwriter, a fiction writer, a publisher, and a teacher of creative writing.
I owe it to my mother, my brother, and mainly to other writers. And of course to my readers.

Now that you know how and why I became a writer, I invite you to look at my home page and see what I've done with that joyful pursuit: www.johnmdaniel.com

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Note:

Today, a number of professional writers with blogs have gotten together to write the same post “Why I Became a Writer.” Please stop by any or all of their blogs/websites to comment and find out what drives us in our favorite obsession.

John Brantingham and Sunny Frazier             http://johnbrantingham.blogspot.com/
Marta Chausee                        http://martachausee.blogspot.com/
Melodie Campbell        funnygirlmelodie.blogspot.com
Lesley Diehl      http://anotherdraught.blogspot.com 
Jim Callan       www.jamesrcallan.com/blog
Chris Swinney http://clswinney.com

27 comments:

  1. I thought it pretty keen of your brother, at nine, to understand conflict.

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    1. my brother Neil was a sharp kid who grew into a fine man. He was a teacher and he taught me most of what I know.

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  2. Love the fact that you learned this about yourself so young! Nice post.

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    1. Still learning, Melodie...and relearning. The process never ends.

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  3. Okay, Posse, I had to let this opportunity slip past. Nice work, all of you.

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  4. Isn't it amazing how early the urge to write hit some of us?
    Good post.

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    1. Thanks, Marilyn. I think storytellers are born that way.

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  5. John,
    I was an "early bloomer" when it came to writing too (a late bloomer when it came to getting published) but, at age five or six, I'm sure I didn't know what "conflict" meant. I would imagine your brother explained it to you.
    Good post!

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    1. Hi Pat. Yes, my brother Neil let me know what conflict was/is. I think we all get our first lessons in conflict resolution from our families.

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  6. Wow, your brother was really insightful. What a great environment to grow up in, and I know you had one of the all time great writing professors later in life.

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  7. Yes, John, I've been blessed by a number of great teachers. I think we can learn about writing every time we read a wonderful book. And when we get a chance to hear the author chat about how that book came to be, it's a golden moment.

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  8. Hey John, I really enjoyed your Blog today. I share some of the same sentiments as you. I'm heading to your site to check out your work.

    Chris

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  9. It's wonderful, John, that you had such a supportive family for your erarly attempts at writing.

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    1. THank you, Lesley. Yes, I'm grateful for a supportive family.

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  10. Your brother was definitely ahead of his age to understand conflict at nine. Has he also become a writer?

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    1. As a matter of fact, Neil did become a writer of sorts. He was an academic, and when he died in 1996 he was Chairman of the English Dept. at TCU.

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  11. John,
    Thanks for sharing your story. I grew up with conflict and didn't realize at a young age that it was an essential ingredient in a story. I couldn't define it, but it was the last thing I wanted in a story. However, I admit it's better than having a mediocre story. Off to check out your website...
    ~Carole

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    1. Carole, remember what Tolstoy said about families: essentially, the happy ones produce boring fiction, the unhappy families have all the great stories.

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  12. Actually, I'm glad you didn't know what conflict was at such a young age, and I'm glad your family was so supportive. More and more, I'm getting the impression that good writers are born writers. Terrific post!
    Marja McGraw

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    1. Many thanks, Marja. Yes, I had a supportive family, but there were hidden struggles and flaws in the generation above me, and I've exploited them plenty!

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  13. There's nothing like big brothers to set a person straight. They don't sugar coat it, do they? And look what yours achieved... you can be satisfied and proud.

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  14. Well, John, you got nearly all of us, it seems, with your nine year old brother's use of the word "conflict." Maybe he really didn't use that exact word or, if he did, where is he now? Head of a university? Librarian of Congress?
    Thanks for the fine words you posted -- and for including my website for the others. I added my words/essay late, so please take a look!

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  15. Eileen, my wonderful brother Neil was an academic, an English Professor specializing in middle English. He taught me throughout my youth: how to juggle, how to yodel, how to sing harmony, how to fly a kite, and the facts of life. I'm sorry to say Neil also taught me how to look cool smoking a cigarette. Alas, he died of lung cancer in 1996, thus teaching me one more lesson.

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  16. That sounds like me as a kid; what is there to write about when the most conflicting thing was deciding whether to play cops-and-robbers or with legos? Kudos to you, though, for pursuing it throughout your youth!

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  17. I am so thrilled that you alluded to The Wizard of Oz. I totally wanted to be Dorothy. Then I totally wanted to be Mary Poppins. As a nine year old, I stood on the curb waiting for the wind to whisk me away. Maybe that's what stories are as you write them -- they carry you off. Can't ever get enough of that.

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