Thursday, August 25, 2011

What's the Spark Blogfest


     No, I haven't forgotten that I signed up to be part of this blogfest. I just figured mine would be a one-day post instead of all week.
     So what's my spark? Haha, I have no idea. Nice, right? I mainly signed up for this blogfest because I was really interested to hear what sparked other people to write. This week as I've thought about my own reasons, I came up with... well, not much.
     I was in grade 2 when I first wanted to be a writer. I don't remember why. I wrote a ridiculously long Alvin and the Chipmunks story and I think it's been since then that I decided to make writing my impossible dream. I wonder if a teacher or one of my parents, after seeing my enthusiasm for writing said to me, "You should be a writer!" so I was like, "Okay!" (Sort of like that flashback Friends episode where Chandler tells Monica she should be a chef and she says, "Okay!" Sorry, getting off track...)
     Since then I did a lot of story beginnings. Some very interesting (aka crappy) poetry. Even some sketches of imagined characters (these were even crappier than the poetry). But why did I want to write in the first place???
     I. Don't. Know!!! How lost does this make feel, I'm telling you.
     I remember reading Roald Dahl books when I was younger, Pippi Longstocking, the infamous Dear God, It's Me Margaret, and lots of ghost stories. I still even have some of those books. It wasn't until fifth grade, and one of my older siblings gave me this book that I think writing became more of a reality to me:

    

     Since then, I couldn't stop reading fantasy. Any Dragonlance book I could get my hands on, Lord of the Rings, anything by Piers Anthony and David Eddings- all these books became my life. And I knew I wanted to write fantasy. I was captured by made-up worlds of Elves, Dwarves, other fantastical creatures, and mostly- MAGIC. I wanted magic so badly. (Still do actually. Hence the HP love.)
     So I guess the Spark for me would be all of the above. And it would be all thanks to my older brothers and sisters who read and loved fantasy first and introduced me to that world.
     Funnily enough, I'm not writing fantasy now. I tried it and failed miserably. But I'm pretty sure that one day I will go back to it. It's my first love, and we all know how hard it is to forget a first love.
     So what about you? What's your SPARK?
    

12 comments:

  1. This is great Melanie. I loved Roald Dahl and David Eddings :) I'm also in your Romance Campaign group. Just wanted to say Hi.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Melanie! Dropping in from the Campaign (although I did the Sparkfest, too!) I'm in your Canadian group. :) By the way, I am in *love* with your blog theme. It's orange and fun!

    See you around the blogosphere! And boy, I still have all my Dragonlance books too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hiya fellow Campaigner! I'm looking forward to getting to know you better this next few weeks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I read all the books you mentioned as a child, too. Wow, I did a lot of reading! I think I always knew I wanted to write. I can't think of a particular thing or book that sparked it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, the awesomeness - I actually wrote a Power Rangers story when I was about seven or eight!! I'm SO glad I'm not the only one! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ok Melanie. Too funny. We have the same music on our playlist, the same blog orangey thing going on. We're both mommy/writer combos. I'm glad we're in the same group at the Campaign!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love fantasy too, but I can't write it for the life of me. And I think people with the same blog background are connected on a higher level of awesomeness. BTW, I also like to add -ness to words. Glad to be following you on the campaign!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh I love this post!!! I think it was when I read Where the Red Fern Grows in 4th grade that I realized I wanted to write. I wanted desperately to make people feel that way when they were reading my books (not sobbing, mind you, but transported to another place LOL)

    ReplyDelete
  9. HI MELANIE! I love you name :)

    I found you over at Michelle Merrill's blog! Good to meet you!

    ReplyDelete
  10. that is supposed to say your*

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi, Melanie! I loved the Pippi Longstocking books when I was a kid. I don't have my old copies anymore. I'll have to re-read a couple from the library. And Roald Dahl is one of my favorite authors. I re-read his children's novels every few years. They're so imaginative. I also love his short stories for adults.

    I totally know which Friends episode you're talking about! I'm a Friends fanatic. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I really can't write in anything but fantasy. I'll attempt a contemporary story and some magical beast will crash the party. I'm glad you participated even if you didn't feel like you had specifics! I think most writers have more than one a-ha moment. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete