From the article: When and How Did You Learn to Write?
Here are some of our readers' recollections of when and how they learned to write.
Share Your ExperienceLearning Again
- Funny, but I knew that I wanted to be a writer before I ever learned how to write. If you handed me a crayon and a sheet of paper when I was four years old, I wouldn’t draw–I’d “write” a story. My Dad was a great reader, and I probably thought I might impress him with my precocious literary skills. Of course at four, writing meant scribbling–all sorts of childish runes and cuneiforms that were meant to be (that really wanted to be) letters. Eventually, my private alphabet turned into a more familiar one. But though my prose grew more accessible, for a long time my writing ability was still pretty raw. As for my writerly ambitions, like Penelope Niven I dithered for the next 30 years or so--composing memos and reports, not essays and stories. Then, shortly after my Dad died five years ago, I decided to give it all another try and really learn how to write (this time with recognizable letters). So I read and wrote, read and wrote. Filled a hard drive with articles and stories and one godawful novel. Then, after a year of rehearsals, I sold a piece. Then another. And I had a lucky run with a few short stories. Now I’m proofing a novel that’s due to be published in January. So I guess I learned to write, in part, by growing so dissatisfied with myself and with a life without writing. And of course I don't have to be concerned about impressing my father anymore. Or at least that's what I tell myself. Thanks, Dad.
- —Guest Frank
I can’t imagine NOT writing
- Growing up I always imagined I’d be a writer as an adult – even to the extent of majoring in that most useless of subjects in college: English Lit. But then I dropped out of college and wandered from job to job, musician to baker, for ten years before returning to school to major in computer science. Ten years later, upon completing a computer project, it occurred to me it would make a good article so very much on the spur of the moment I picked up the phone and called a magazine editor – expecting I was wasting my time. But no, I not only reached the editor but he said send it in, if it’s any good we’ll publish it. I did and he did. So I repeated the process and sold a second article. I’ve been writing professionally ever since and even spent ten years as a magazine editor. I can’t imagine not writing.
- —Guest Kevin
Just write something!
- Never thought of myself as a writer but always loved to read. When I was at university I had an English major for a girlfriend who taught me a thing or two about writing. In grad. school I had several professors who were very proficient and enjoyed writing. I always enjoyed the research part but hated the writing until I came across another girlfriend [who was also an English major] who said ‘just write something! Get your thoughts on paper and then organize them.’ It turned out to be brilliant advice and I’ve enjoyed writing ever since, though I still don’t think I’m that good at it!
- —Guest Eric
A place in my daily life
- I haven’t always wanted to be a writer, but I have always been enamored with the meter of words and how they can be put together as a means to describe a person, a scene, an idea, or a feeling. The exact moment I knew I would be a writer transpired on a New England summer day when I was 10 years old while visiting my grandparents in the house where I grew up until 6 years of age. My grandparents had bought and never opened a classical music audio tape collection that I discovered sitting in a box. Curious, I unwrapped the first tape and popped it in to one of the first “boom boxes” of the mid-80s. It was pleasing. I don’t think I had ever heard classical music before outside of commercial television snippets. I unwrapped tape after tape until I had found my favorite: Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto (”The Emperor”). It was the second movement of this song that awoke that part of me that enjoys writing and can do it well. (to be continued)
- —Guest Cici
Place (continued)
- Upon listening to the strings build from mere whispers into bow strokes that carried the weight of Ludwig Van’s deepest heartfelt descriptions, a scene popped into my head of a beautiful ballerina pirouetting on a grassy hill by a tree. The graceful and fluid motions of her legs kept time with the cyclical, rhythmic melody, and with each downward motion, her perfectly pink satin toe shoes came folding to the ground. With each upward motion and harder bow stroke she began again, legs leaping. The gentle brush of the piano described her inner beauty that drove her to express it through movement. I ran downstairs to my grandfather’s office and grabbed a pen and paper. I had to save the moment. I wanted to live in that “place” for as long as I could because it was the most beautiful place I had ever been to. (to be concluded)
- —Guest Cici
Place (conclusion)
- I played that song at least four more times, each time refining and editing my description of what I saw before me, thanks to Beethoven’s great music. I felt he understood the great need to glorify scenes by “saving” them; with him through music and with me through words. It’s mere translation in a way. But when done correctly, it can move the hardest heart to tears and release, and serve as a powerful reminder that beauty is all around us–and within us. So, “must” I write? No. I am not compelled the way some are or claim to be. I do not seek a critical means to escape as others do, like a stiff drink at the end of the night. But the more time I spend in that “place” in my daily life, the more I do write, the more I enjoy it, and the less I think of fears that keep me from writing.
- —Guest Cici
My joy
- I have always been fascinated by books and reading. I remember my mother reading to me constantly when I was sick in bed. It was an exciting trip to go with my dad to the library for the first time, choose a book, & bring it home with me to touch & read for several weeks. When my sister & I were bored, we didn’t play house or Barbies, we played LIBRARY! I visited the world in my books. Coming from a blue-collar, middle class area, my friends, cousins, aunts & uncles thought I was a weirdo because I always had my nose in a book. English was always my favorite subject. My grandfather said I was going to ruin my eyesight reading so much. When I entered high school, I had the fortunate experience of being taught by the strictest, most knowledgeable Sisters of Mercy, who made all of us practice good writing & learn to edit and revise. (to be continued)
- —Gini
My joy (concluded)
- Every day we were given assignments to practice writing specific topics or to write creative examples of personification, hyperbole or onomatopeia. This became second nature to us, so that when I went to college, & discovered we were required to write an essay every week during the semester, I didn’t think anything of it. I discovered, however, that all the other students were AGONIZING over the assignments, never having the practice I had had. I was actually embarrassed to hear the professor read my papers out loud to the class every week as examples of what our writing should look & sound like. I really didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. Later on in my teaching career, I became the “go-to” person for proofreading & editing letters home to parents, as well as assignments for master’s classes. I LOVED IT! Reading and writing have been my joy all my life long.
- —Guest Gini
A million words later
- I learned to write while I was an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh taking English classes with Abraham Lauf from whom I received an F in Freshman English. The sense of writing in English came to me slowly since Spanish was my first language and I began to learn English when I was 8. Since then I went on to earn the Ph.D. in English (British Renaissance Studies)and after a million or so published words I think I’ve finally got the hang of it. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, Ph.D., (English), Scholar in Residence Chair, Department of Chicana/Chicano & Hemispheric Studies Western New Mexico University
- —Guest Felipe de Ortego y Gasca
Snatching moments to write
- I learned to write well when I started helping students and alumni at Georgia State University write resumes. The tightness of the form and the need for writing to a particular audience made me really think about how writers could craft words to do their bidding; the need to communicate as much information as possible on one page emphasized the need for contraction. Also, I began to not mind rewriting and rewriting. I started to recognize the value of rhetorical strategies such as parallelism. All the reading I had done over the years formed a background of good writing examples which eventually seeped into my brain. I love to write but don’t write as much as I want. I am working on snatching moments to write–and striving to make those moments count.
- —Guest Cindy Hames
hello
- Hi, I am not a good writer i thought at the first time of my writing. But when continued writing it became ok and i am enjoying. And i wnated to get admitted myself in MA in ELT at University of Dhaka. But everyone is worried about to admit there because about 300 student will face in the exam. From then I became very curious and set for write and Trying
- —Guest Helal Uddin
Louise
- I believed I was writing at around the age of three. I delivered mail to my Mom & Dad in the form of scribbled marks on scraps of discarded wrinkled paper found in trash baskets. They were impressed. Then at four I began 'spelling' certain embarrassing words - to disguise them while out shopping with Mom. Bodily functions became "JFK" and "PQR". They fell into popular usage with my cousins leading me to believe that MY words could be influential. I thought I was reading French at five when Mom picked up a beautifully illustrated Book featuring Insects, full page paintings done by a famous French Artist, at a Church Bazaar, for about a buck. Now lost in time I see it sells, once-in-a-blue-Moon, on Internet Rare Book Web Sites for $1500.00. Never-the-less it served it's purpose. It gave me confidence in my abilities. Time was quickly passing - and by the age of eight I was a proficient reader and writer.
- —Guest Louise Huebner
Bloomberg Way
- I learned how to write while reading the book 'Bloomberg Way.' Ten years ago I obtained a copy from a friend who worked there. That's how I became familiar with Strunk & White, George Orwell's rules for writers and the KISS principle. Now the book sells on Amazon and I believe it will influence a lot more readers.
- —Guest Luis
hi
- I learned to write in America. I was 4 years old when I went there. I learned in a school named Rosewood Avenue it was fun there. I was there for 5 year. now I am in Mongolia. So am learning in Orchlon and I am very proud of it so bye.
- —Guest urangoo
Writing Is A Lifelong Experience
- I began learning to write from birth. Every experience of my life has contributed to my desire to write and my understanding of what writing means in our world. In elementary and secondary school, I took all the required courses that involved writing. In college, I not only completed the basic English classes, but elected to take a few other classes that were heavy on reading and writing...but I literally learned to write by reading. The academics of writing just gave me labels for the techniques and linguistic devices I used naturally, as a result of reading everything I could get my hands on. As I get older and read a wider variety of written material, my writing changes to reflect what I pick up from others' techniques and styles. I'll never "arrive" at the pinnacle of my writing, because it is not possible for me to be exposed to every single piece of writing and stop the learning process.
- —MsKelly65
1-15 of 34Next
