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PROMPT September 22nd

Today, your prompt is from bobturn!

What was the first thing you remember writing that made you want to be a writer (casually or professionally)?

I have a vague memory of writing some sort of story in fifth grade, and getting praise from the teacher for it. I have no idea what I actually wrote. Really, I have no idea if it was actually any good, or if she was just one of those teachers who knew how to encourage her students.

In any event, I think that's what led me to believe that I may actually be able to string words together in a way that people might appreciate. Thanks, Miss Chester!

Fortunately, whatever I wrote back then (likely in cuneiform on clay tablets) did not survive the ravages of time. I'm certain it would embarrass the living fuck out of me if someone discovered it.

I'd read somewhere that it's a good idea for a writer to keep a journal, so I did that, too. Several handwritten notebooks' worth of 'em. I even called them "diaries." I had some idea that it wasn't a terribly masculine thing to do, but my parents were ahead of the curve in not trying to shame me by enforcing strict gender roles.

Thank everything in the universe those writings are lost, as well. I don't envy today's kids and the permanent record of their juvenile maundering.

The earliest thing that I wrote that survives - at least that I know of - is a poem I ventured when I was, I suppose, seventeen. Hell, I even put it up here: "Bench Fry"  [13+]. Even the appearance of that poem on this site is fifteen years old, now. The Author's Note is way outdated; for starters, this was before the introduction of dropnotes to this site, so I'd collected a bunch of notes in a book item and linked individual entries.. I keep thinking I should update those older items with some of those newfangled dropnotes, but I have issues when it comes to changing stuff that's been a part of my persona for so long.

Before you scoff, yes, I'm aware that the poem sucks. But I wanted to keep something from back then.

Anyway, despite a couple of attempts, I still haven't been published. Partly that's because I haven't tried very hard. Also partly, that's because I'm still sure my stuff isn't good enough. Maybe it never will be. But I gotta write anyway.

On a personal note, if you've been following along, you might have gotten used to me posting shortly after midnight every day. I'm going to a conference for the next few days, and while I'm pretty sure I'll have opportunity to write in this blog to these prompts, the timing might be different on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Likely you don't care, but the answer to "Hey, where's Waltz?" will be "Washington, DC. Drinking."