How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

[DivaNicoletta]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

For me, I have been writing since I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, we would get an assignment for a 2 page story, and I would write 15! I drove the teachers crazy. I wrote a lot of novella length work when I was in middle/high school and wrote my first novel ( 105,000) words when I was 18, I am 22 now, and have written about 4 novels since. For me, writing is really natrual, I don't have to labor over it ( except when it comes to editing!) and my writing process always goes very smoothly and I always have way too many ideas and too little time to do it in ! :/ I always hear people saying " I can't think of a novel to write" or " I have a novel I want to write, I just don't know how to write a novel". There are books that tell you how to structure a story and how to make good characters. I even see books on "how to write a novel". Should this just come natrually if you a writer? I mean there is always room for improvement with classes/seminars/writing groups, but shouldn't a writer know these things? Just wondering how everyone else's writing experiance is. Also is there such a thing as writers block? :Sun:

[Sage]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

Passion: Yes & no. When I was little, I wrote little stories about cats & wrote poems & stuff. When I got a little older, I didn't write much. In college I made some attempts at Buffy fanfiction, that didn't finish. In my senior year, though, I came in & wrote a 26K word novella(?) based on an RPG my friends & I were playing. That was supposed to be it. But then there was more & more & more. After a while I stopped deluding myself that I was going to stop. If the 26K (or up to 36K) novels count, I wrote my first complete novel within one or two weeks at the age of 21. If not, my first complete novel was finished five days ago & I'm 25.

I'll wait 'til I start querying/get published before I answer the last one. But my friends would say I have talent, & if so it's a mix of natural & labor.

[DamaNegra]

I'm not sure, I'm 16 and have written about 1 complete novel that I absolutely hated so it has to go into editing. Then, at 14 I finished a novel, didn't like it and rewrote it. I finished when I was 15, decided I didn't like it and rewrote it. Now, I'm 16 and I still don't like it so I'm rewriting it. At this pace, I'll be 40 before I finish it!

Anyway, I've been writing a lot of poems since I was 13 and lots of short stories since last year. Right now I'm concentrating on novels. I do feel that I have a talent for writing, since the words just flow and I don't even have to make an effort, unlike most of my friends.

And yes, I do believe there's a thing called writer's block, which happens when you write purely out of divine inspiration instead of just writing. Happened to me all the time until I learned to write. One thing is having talent to write and another is knowing how to do it.

[emeraldcite]

22

[clara bow]

>had the passion for writing?

Since I was twelve

>How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

35, but I still had a lot of help from my husband, who, between the two of us, has the genetic or inborn talent or whatever you want to call it.

>Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

Labor, labor, and more labor. Sometimes, a line or two comes very easily (as in, so out of the blue I can't even figure out where it came from!), but that's only once in a while. Oddly enough, in my professional work (I'm a therapist), I find the writing very easy. It's the creative stuff that I grapple with the most.

[scribbler1382]

I was 28 when I wrote my first novel. I'd been writing shorter work and trying to get published for 6 or 7 years before that. Of course, I had been writing long before that, but I don't really start counting until the point where I thought someone would be interested in reading what I'd been writing and I tried to get my stuff published. Pretty egotistical, when you think about it.

Talent. Talking about that can be a hairy kettle of fish. I used to think talent was the be all and end all of writing. You either had it or you didn't, and if you had it that was enough. I've since changed my view on that. I still think talent is involved, but talent alone isn't enough. For example, as talented as Tiger Woods is, what if he never picked up a club? What if he never took any lessons? What if his Dad hadn't pushed him to learn the intracacies of the game? What if he hadn't practiced every day for years and years? See why talent isn't enough?

Something else I've learned over the years is that writing is more than just barfing as many words as possible into a nice neat row. Writing is about choices. And a lot of the time, it's really about what you choose NOT to do, more than what you choose to do. I'd also venture that if first drafts come easy and editing doesn't, then "writing" doesn't, as a whole, come easy to you. First drafts, yes. But for me, until you've put your final touches on it and plopped it into an envelope, then you haven't finished the writing.

I've also found that if my writing is going very smoothly, then I'm doing it wrong. But again, that's probably just me.

[aweis]

I was 32 when the writing bug entered my life. I spent the next 8 years cultivating and learning everything I could about writing. Prior to that, writing novels or anything else, never occurred to me.

[AdamH]

16 but it really really sucked! To the point that if I had a choice between rereading that novel and a dictionary, I'd choose the dictionary. There's more unexpected twists.

Then I dabbled in poetry a couple years. Then I did nothing (college years)...if you excluded writing essays for school. Then after graduation I picked up my creative quill and tackled short stories. Doing that ever since honing my craft. Now I'm trying to finish a novel that's actually better than a dictionary! Wish me luck!

[maestrowork]

It was two years ago when I finished my first novel. ;)

I'd say to succeed, you need 1 part talent, 2 parts hard work, and lots of passion.

[SeanDSchaffer]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

I've enjoyed writing since I first learned how to write in the first or second grade. I decided to become a writer when I was eleven years old.

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

As I've only been published once, and that through a disreputable company that is not considered a publishing credit, I'll have to list when I finished my first ms.

I believe it was the First Draft of a work I have not seen since I was a young teenager. It was a Time-travel novel, and I had the most ridiculous title for it, as I didn't know what really to call it. The title was--mind you, I was thirteen or fourteen when this was finished, so laugh only if you must--The 1500-Year-Long Mission.


Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

It seems to be a natural talent for me, although I have to labor more today than I did when I was a child. It takes a lot of physical stamina that I just don't possess any more.

Snipped for length....
I always hear people saying " I can't think of a novel to write" or " I have a novel I want to write, I just don't know how to write a novel". There are books that tell you how to structure a story and how to make good characters. I even see books on "how to write a novel". Should this just come natrually if you a writer? I mean there is always room for improvement with classes/seminars/writing groups, but shouldn't a writer know these things? Just wondering how everyone else's writing experiance is. Also is there such a thing as writers block? http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/smilies/EmoteSun.gif

I personally think that if someone wants to be a writer, has the love of the written word, and has good stories to tell, that the issues you mentioned in the above quote should not matter all that much....with the possible exception of Writer's Block. I think that happens to just about everyone.

One thing I will point out is, in what little experience I have (All 23 years of it) in aspiring to be a professional writer, I've found that simply asking questions of fellow writers can be more valuable than all the books one can read about writing. Not all books are equal. If I were to write a book on writing, I wouldn't know where to begin, whereas I could give you an idea of what works for me through what others have written.

My own personal favorite writing books are Strunk and White's 'Elements of Style;' and 'How to Write Almost Anything Better' by Arthur Herzog. But again, what really mattered most to me in my writing was the people who personally showed me how to write....who at the same time knew something about what they were saying.

I love questions threads like this! Thank you for asking.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

[hoyateach]

One month and eight days after my 24th birthday.

[SusanR]

I figure I'll be 51, maybe 52 when my first novel will be finished...:) I'm 50 now.

I've always been a "good writer." I wrote poetry when I was a child and teenager. I've kept a journal since the day I turned 18 years old. But I never aspired to be a published author, never expected to be writing a novel....

What happened was that this story came down from the ether and chose me to tell it. It was an accident. I wasn't looking for a story to write. I simply read something in my local newspaper which raised more questions than it answered, and I couldn't let it rest. Or maybe it couldn't let me rest!?

Next thing I know, I've got 200 pages written.

SusanR

[scarletpeaches]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

Ever since I can remember I've been in love with books and the English language. I've always wanted to write, but haven't always been very good at it. I've always tried to improve, though.

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Eighteen. It was standard teenage vampire-angst fare. It's been through about three drafts, and with another seventeen, I think it might be barely readable. It was a hell of a lot of fun though and taught me that you can read all the how-to books you want, but nothing actually beats writing itself.

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

It's a natural passion. Whether I'm talented or not is not for me to say, although many other people seem to enjoy what I write. There is, however, always room for improvement, no matter who you are, which is why I still read how-to books, even the more basic ones that no longer apply to me really, out of love for the English language, right up to the more complicated grammatical manuals. There are always little gems to be found in each instruction book. Of course the best way to improve is to let someone else read what you've written and take their comments on board, in my opinion. There's a difference between listening to advice and being swayed by the whims of others, though.

It's never been laborious...perhaps a labour of love, though. It truly does my head in at times but you know what? I love it more than anything else in my life. Truly.

There are books that tell you how to structure a story and how to make good characters. I even see books on "how to write a novel". Should this just come natrually if you a writer? I mean there is always room for improvement with classes/seminars/writing groups, but shouldn't a writer know these things?

Not necessarily. A writer should want to know these things, though. I believe some people are born with a desire or a natural talent that life, and learning from others, could refine.

Also is there such a thing as writers block?

In my opinion, no. What others call writer's block, I call "Writing myself into a corner and thinking oh $hit, what do I do here?" I just back up to where the story stopped flowing and begin again. I'm not a fan of outlines on paper, but I find if you have a fair old idea of where you want the book to go in your head, you won't go far wrong. The only way to get through a 'block' is to write through it - lying on your bed stressing over it won't work, asking advice from friends won't work*, getting drunk won't work...The only thing that works is getting ink on paper (or words on the screen). Books won't write themselves and writers write, goddamnit!

:)

*I just realised that could look inconsistent. When I mention getting advice from other people, I meant their opinion on what you've already written. When it comes to writing through a block, other people can't help - only you can get yourself through it. Other people come in handy when you have something you'd like them to read for you, though.

[triceretops]

27 I think. It was penciled on notebook paper, but completed.

Tri

[loquax]

Since the age of 11 or 12 I've started but never finished dozens of awful books. I finished my first proper novel - 120k - about six months ago... and I'm 19 in January. I'm writing another one now (duh)

[Mike Coombes]

how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

As long as I can remember. I had my first typewriter at 11.

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Late 20's. I didn't like it once it was finished and I considered it to be more work than I wanted to commit to in a genre I'd grown tired of, so I shelved it.

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

I have a natural talent for words, and I think I write well. At school various teachers told me I was talented. I trust their judgement!

As far as novels are concerned now, I have no plans to write one unless I feel I have something significant to say that'll take that many words to say. I write short fiction, I'm happy working in a tight space wordwise and I'm reasonably successful when I find time to write.

There are too many novels out there that are a waste of space in every respect, the result of writers who don't know how to write prose and instead rely on a glut of words, overdescriptive passages that don't move things along, wordy fillers just to make up a word count.

My advice to younger writers especially, when you've finished your first novel, read it to see where you made mistakes, then hit the delete button. The same with your second, and probably third. Don't fall in love with your words - be prepared to be brutal.

If you are really a writer, and you want to improve, be aware that what you are writing today is never going to be as good as what you will be capable of writing tomorrow. What you write in your teens, when you look back at it in a few years time, will probably seem excruciatingly embarrassing - and if it doesn't, it means you haven't grown as a writer.

[loquax]

To further what Mike said, I think there is a marked difference between being a passionate author and a passionate writer. Of course, I'm not really either. But from what I've gathered on this site, being an author means a lot more that being a wirter. And if you get too emotionally involved with your writing, it scuppers your chances of getting published.

[zarch]

26

[Jamesaritchie]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

Also is there such a thing as writers block? :Sun:

Late twenties. It sold.

I suppose writing is a natural talent. I sold the first three short stories and the first novel I wrote. But I find the older I get, the more I labor. For me, writing hasn't gotten easier with time, it's gotten harder. I experiment more, I don't write the same novel over and over, and it just keeps getting harder.

Writer's block does exist IF you believe it exists. There was a time in history when pretty much no one had writer's block. The entire concept of writer's block can be traced back to one man, and it never really because a problem until literary journals picked up on this and started treating it seriously.

Before 1800, the writer was considered to be in charge of the writing. The concept of writer's block allowed the writing to be in charge of the writer.

Even at that, it was the mid-twentieth century before writer's block became widespread, and only the dawn of the internet age made writer's block both legitimate and fashionable.

Real writer's block is a pyschological malady that actually prevents a person from writing anything. Not just fiction, but anything. Even a grocery list. Even your name. But what we think of as writer's block, no, it doesn't exist. . .unless you want it to exist.

[MadScientistMatt]

Wrote my first complete book this year, at 27. It's nonfiction, though (and could stand some more polishing). Started a couple novels, but never finished them. Yet.

[arkady]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Twelve. And by the standards of my age and inexperience, it wasn't bad. It had a coherent plot, a beginning, a middle and an end. And I left enough room for a sequel (which I never wrote).

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

Yes to both. I do have a natural talent (writing is part of my job, in fact), but each book keeps getting harder and harder because as I learn more I'm more aware of the refinements I should be making.

... is there such a thing as writers block?

I don't know. I frequently suffer from bitter discouragement (I still haven't been published), but never "writer's block."

[Honey Nut Loop]

Since i was a toddler one of my dreams has been to get a book published (which of course meant i had to write it first). I wrote my first novel at 13 and am now on my fourth(i'm 18). Then there are the dozen or so nonstarters that reached the 10-20,000 word mark before withering.

As for talent? Well who am i to say. You tell me. The first draft of my current WIP is up in the children's section of SYW. It's YA.

My main problem seems to be that i right something, edit and re-write, then let it simmer. Of course after the simmering i find i hate my work and can't bare to read it. Argh.

[LissyMiller]

When I was 11, my teacher gave our class an assignment. Each student had to write a 2500 word story. I wrote about a young girl that went crazy, killed her parents and tortured her older brother. My teacher gave me a really crappy mark, apparently he couldn't "get past the violence". Was it good? Probably not, but it was then that I caught the writing-bug...for almost 6 full months. After that, I didn't write anything besides essays for school. At the age of 22 I got an idea for a short story and so I started to write. 59,000 words, and 2 years later(5 months ago) I finished my first ms.

Does writing come natural? It sure feels like it. Of course that doesn't mean that the writing is good, it just means that I can't stop, whether is sucks or not. I'm addicted.

As for Writers Block, I whole heartedly believe in it. For me, it is usually something I have caused myself, but that doesn't make the block feel any less like a brick wall.

[Shadow_Ferret]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?


I've considered myself a writer since high school.

I was 46 when I completed my first novel.

The talent is natural, the application is a labor. I can write, I just need motivation to do the old butt in chair thing.

[blackbird]

I wrote my first "novel" at nine; a story about Amigo the Giraffe, who was born without spots (inspired by Bambi, but don't ask me why-I just knew I wanted to write an animal story!) Now, as to why a giraffe born in Africa would have a Spanish name, I have no idea! (I was just a little kid, and thought it'd be neat for his name to mean "Friend".

All I remember now about that book was pages and pages of pink loose leaf notebook paper, scattered all over our living room couch.

At 23, I wrote my first "real" novel, a story of two friends who run away from home and eventually become rock stars. I eventually trashed the novel (I envisioned it as this great epic that would somehow encompass the entire history of rock'n'roll) but the characters in that book continued to haunt me, and I recently resurrected them for an altogether different book. I've actually been doing this a lot lately, bringing back characters from previously abandoned projects. It's as though the stories often die, but the characters don't-or refuse to.

However, I can pretty well say with certainty that Amigo the Giraffe is quite daed, and shall remain so.

[zeprosnepsid]

Well, I'm 24 and haven't finished a novel yet =) But I'm working on it...

It's not laborious because there is one kind of writing I seem to do quite well. I don't even like this genre or style but it comes naturally. One day I'd like to write something I'd actually like to read and that, I'm sure, will be quite a laborious work because I'm not really that good of a writer in a general sense...

[Mike Martyn]

I finished my first novel at age 54. My second one should be finished before I turn 55. I never expected or wanted to write novels but the muse apparently had other ideas.

Although I've only written fiction for a little more than a year, I have been a lawyer for the last 28 years. In that capacity I have written many incredible fictions on behalf of clients!

If you have a modicum of talent, a good knowledge of grammar and a good ear for dialogue, that will take you a long way but you still have to put your butt in the chair every single day for a couple of hours.

[jules]

I was 15 when I started my first novel, but it took until I was 20 to get to the end of the first draft. I'm still working on rewriting that novel -- it has some good bits that I want to keep, particularly the antagonist, but also a lot of stuff that doesn't work particularly well.

Writing is definitely something that comes naturally to me. I first started writing fiction for a school English project (fiction wasn't really part of the curriculum, but one assignment we were told to write whatever we wanted: I turned in a 7,000 word short story), and haven't ever stopped for a significant period since then. I don't think I can. Other than when I'm taking antidepressants, which just seem to suck out my will to write.

Writer's block: sometimes I don't want to write. Sometimes I sit and procrastinate. But I've seen that I can force myself to work through it, and while my output may drop, it doesn't completely stop.

[CaptMorgan]

I've wanted to be a writer since kindergarten, when I first started "reading." In grade school, I'd always start "novels" but I never finished them. Finally, when I was thirteen, I decided to get down to business. I spent the next two years working hard and I finished a novel over 100,000 words long as a fifteen-year-old. Most of it was erased when the family computer went crazy, so I took that as a sign from God that it really, really sucked.

Since then, I've written four complete manuscripts. I'm twenty now. I think writing is a natural talent, but like all so-called natural talents, it had to be developed to a point where agents and publishers would take me seriously. Now that I've mastered writing an attention-getting query letter, I'm now working on mastering the re-write. It's a process. ;-)

[blacbird]

Old enough to know better. If only I'd listened . . .

caw.

[kathompson]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?
I started writing in 4th grade; second grade if you count my stellar masterpiece short "I went up in a hot air balooon. It poped. I fell to the ground and I lafed and I lafed." My first short story :) I still have it somewhere.

I didn't consider myself a writer until my late teens when I sold my first piece, but I've had the passion for writing since elementary school (I'm 44 now, so it's bee a whike...)

I completed my first novel-length manuscript when I was 13. Looking back, it was fan ficiton (Star Trek) and it was sooooo bad. Bad enough that my own mother laughed at me when she read it.... I wrote my "first" novel when I was 15, set it aside and wrote 3 others before I was 18, and set those aside as well--twenty five years later I blew the dust off them, rewrote until I thought my eyes would bleed, and had 3 much better manuscripts.

As far as natural talent...perhaps a little natural talent, but mostly it's work, especially after the first draft, when I have to get real and cut out all the really stupid stuff. And there's always a lot of really stupid stuff...

[blisswriter]

I began writing in elementary school. Diaries, after reading "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" by Judy Blume. Diaries evolved into letters, to-do lists, journals...

I don't remember when I began writing fiction. Wait! Yes, I do. I had to write a short story for a high school English class. My teacher criticized it horribly, calling it "pathetic bathos" and something else I can't remember.
That was over 20 years ago.

I ran into that teacher several years ago at a school fair and reminded him of that brilliant critique. He blushed as he professed not to remember. LOL

Any way, I'm a prolific novel starter. I have several novels in various stages of completion. I expect to finish my favorite before I'm 40. http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/smilies/emoticonidea.gif

[scfirenice]

I was 8. It was a YA mystery. I keep meaning to go back and clean it up, it is actually pretty good.

[Breca Halley]

I was 14 when I started my first novel and 16 when I finished it. Since then I have written 3 2/3 more novels. :) I'm currently trying to finish my fifth, but I am taking a bit of a break now with finals coming up.

[arainsb123]

I've been getting stories down on paper through pictures since before I could either read or write, but I typed out my first story when I was six. I completed my first book, a compilation of three novellas, when I was ten, and I was impatient enough to hook up with iUniverse (only $99 back then) and push it into print. Then I wrote and PODed the sequel.

I'm currently editing my sixth and writing my seventh. I really got serious about writing during the summer of 2004, when I joined this site and got addicted to the PublishAmerica thread and learned all about the business.

I don't think talent is terribly important. I think that anyone with sufficient motivation can write a novel, and I think that anyone who reads a lot and puts sufficient effort into revision can make that novel great.

[KTC]

I was 12. I wonder what ever happened to that. I wrote it on a typewriter. I still remember how excited I was to be writing it. I thought people would flock to read it. They would contact me and beg to publish it. I would be on the bestseller list, a prodigy! It was probably a rip off of the last thing I read before writing it.

[triceretops]

Right around age 27 I banged out three complete books on lined paper and with pencil. And at 35 I picked up the bug again and wrote nine novels in three years--three type-written, and six on an XT computer. Picked up the bug again at 53-years of age and knocked out two more, for a total of 14. Only two of them found representation with an agent but did not sell. I'm currently shopping the last two. Funny though, the first two non-fiction books I wrote were imediately picked up by legit publishers and did real well. What's that tell ya?

Tri

[KimJo]

I started writing short stories when I was 5 (my kindergarten teacher would assign me stories to write while she worked on teaching the other kids to read) and wrote my first novel when I was 12. It was about a girl who discovers that the new girl at school is from another planet, and then gets to go to the other girl's planet with her and solves a mystery about an attempt to assassinate the planetary president. Someday I may revise it; I did a couple revisions right after I wrote it and it isn't really too bad.

[scarletpeaches]

I just realised KTC's avatar looks like the kind of serial killer you could take home to meet your parents. :D

[SusanR]

I figure I should be finished with my first novel when I'm 51, next year.

I've kept a journal for the past 32 years. Yup, started on my eighteenth birthday, inspired by The Diaries of Anais Nin. Wouldn't show of any of those notebooks to a soul and expect to have them destroyed when I die.

One of the things I enjoy most about being a physician is writing really good medical admission notes...it's really an art. I loved reading Freud's case studies because they're incredible literature in a genre of their own. Many novels have been written inspired by the case study of Dora, for instance. (The Fig-Eater is the one coming to mind just now.)

I never intended to become a novelist, to write a novel or to seek publication. I honestly feel as if my story selected me. Came down upon me from the ether demanding to be written. What could I do? I started writing.

SusanR

[Jaycinth]

26. I got scared and hid it, along with the short stories.

[azbikergirl]

how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

Since I was a kid. I made my first attempt at writing a novel when I was twelve.


How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

I believe I was around 28 when I finished my first novel (I'm 44 now). I'd started several prior, but didn't finish them. My first published novel is due to be released in the next week or two. (woot)


Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

Writing comes naturally, but that's not to say I don't labor at it. I suppose I have some amount of talent that only hard work will refine.

[moblues]

I started witing lyrics when I was sixteen. It's just a hobby now. I've literally written hundreds. I also composed the music to them as well. I've been playing guitar and bass (mostly guitar) for 28 years. This has also been relegated to hobby status.

Two of these compostions were used by a band in Chicago in the late eighties. They're just a local band now. They no longer tour. They're even older than I am, lol. They never released the EP that these were on. Stuff's too dated to release now, anyway.

I finished my first MS two years ago. It's where it belongs –– In my desk, and on disk. I was 42 at the time. I finished the second this month. I'm in the revision process right now.




Mike

[JerseyGirl1962]

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?


42 - last year. It's shelved at the moment, but I'm going back to it at some point (I love the characters and the plot!). :kiss:

Let's see. The earliest writing of any kind I can remember is a short story I think I wrote when I was 6 or 7 called The Magic Three. (Jeez, I got the fantasy bug at a really young age!) Don't remember much about it except that it was about 3 wizards. What the heck they were doing, eh. What's funny about that particular story is that I used it as a basis (of sorts) for my only publishing credit so far (a short story).

I started my first novel when I was in my early 30s. About 5 chapters in, I realized everything was dreck, so I gave up on it. (Can't believe it took me that long to realize that.) I found it again recently, looked at the first few pages...and wondered what the heck I was thinking.

It belongs at the bottom of a cesspool.

My problem isn't ideas for stories; I've got a weird imagination. It's that if I don't get my thoughts/ideas down right away, it's gone. Everything that clicked in my brain falls apart on the paper.

With this WIP, I did something different: I actually wrote character bios, set up an outline...and finished the first draft in about 30 days! My brain works well with lists and stuff, so this set up worked well for me (even though I did change some of the characteristics, etc., with some of the characters - nothing is etched in stone).

Ah, the sun is out, my back has stopped hurting...and then I saw this lovely thread! A nice way to end a cruddy week. :)

~Nancy

[Vuligora]

I'vw been writting since I was little. I couldn't read, so I drew pictures and had my parents write what I told them to. Then I started writting on my own. I still haven't fiished my first novel, my earlier ones have been put on the back burner for now. Currently I am working on a series of three books. It'll take me a while, but I shall conquer it. (Insert evil cackling)

And hey! It isn't nice to kill friendly Giraffes!

[stace001]

I completed my first novel when i was 27. Before then, it had never occured to me to write. I've completed two more since then, and i'm currently working on my fourth. (i'm 31).

[henriette]

hopefully 31. my birthday is in november, so i have 11 months to get it done.

amigo the giraffe lives on, teaching the africans how to speak spanish. at least in my own mind. please, blackbird, let amigo live! and keep us posted! :)

[DivaNicoletta]

I actually pulled my first novel ( written when I was about 14) and the second draft of it is actually what the agent is interested in working with me on. I am 22 now, but the idea came when i was 14.

[ChaosTitan]

I wrote my first "novel" when I was thirteen. And I put that in quotes because it was handwritten in a marble notebook, maybe forty pages long, divided up into short chapters. I barely remember the plot of that one (typical teenage angst, inspired by the Sweet Valley novels I was fond of at the time), because it was destroyed by the ex-friend I had allowed to borrow it (in a fit of teenage rage over a misunderstanding). Devastated is an understatement.

I wrote a few short stories in high school, but didn't discover how much I truly loved writing until college. I had internet for the first time and delved headlong into the wonderful world of fanfiction. My second "novel" was written when I was nineteen (TV-show based) and "published" as a spiral-bound zine.

The first true, original novel of mine was started in 1999, and finished in 2004 (age 24). Partly because my fanfic addiction kept distracting me, and partly because I had trouble with ending the story. It sits nicely in a binder on my bookshelf, hiding.

I finished my second novel this summer, and am currently working on two different "third novels." http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/smilies/Emotewhip.gif

-Kelly

[Saanen]

I was in eighth grade, which would make me 13 or 14. I remember it very clearly. It was a fantasy with a main character named Alamar whose horse was named Lycine. It was, of course, utter crap, but not that bad for my age--I wish I still had it. I didn't complete any other novels until I was in my 20s, and I've now completed (*counts*) seven in all. I've been writing stories since I learned how to write.

[JA Konrath]

First novel, 22.

But when I was 18 I put together a 90k collection of intereconnected short stories. I did 5 of these before tackling a novel, so I'd already written about 450k words.

Then I wrote nine novels, before finally selling the tenth.

[emeraldcite]

I also finished my first at 22. I was just getting ready to put in in a drawer to die a slow death in ether of memory when someone at WMA wanted to see it. I expect the rejection after the holidays. Then, it will go in a drawer.

[EnitaMeadows]

I was ten when I wrote my first novel. My first published novel was written at fifteen and published at seventeen.

[Orianna2000]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?
I began writing somewhere around ten years old, when I wrote a short story about a blind ice-skater and illustrated it myself. A couple years later, I developed a passion for writing. I wrote more short stories and dabbled in scriptwriting and poetry.

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?Thirty-two years old. It was this year, actually. I prolifically wrote short stories, novellas, and magazine articles, but I had to work my way up to a full-length novel. Once I figured out how to do it, though, I really took off. In a short amount of time, I finished two separate novels (which are now in revision stages) and have a third that's 50,000 words in.

There are books that tell you how to structure a story and how to make good characters. I even see books on "how to write a novel". Should this just come natrually if you a writer? I mean there is always room for improvement with classes/seminars/writing groups, but shouldn't a writer know these things? No. You wouldn't expect someone to be able to pick up the violin for the first time and start playing Mozart, would you? You might have a natural talent for music, but you still need to learn proper technique--how to hold the violin, how to read music, and how to coax the sounds from the instrument without sounding like a dying cat. It takes education and practice, same as any hobby or profession.

Writing is no different. You might have a knack for creating interesting characters, or describing scenes so that the reader is immersed in the setting, but you still need to learn proper technique. Take me, for example. For years, friends and family have told me that I'm an excellent writer, that I have talent, and that I ought to be published. Yet every time I submitted a story for publication, it was summarily rejected. Who's right--my friends and family, or the professional publishers who rejected me? No offense to my family, but I think the publishers knew what they were doing when they rejected me.

I might be highly creative, but without learning proper writing skills--I'll never be a writer. Raw talent can only take you so far. Then you need to learn and master the techniques that will take you from amateur to professional. As soon as I realized this, I began educating myself. And it shows in my writing. If you read my short stories in chronological order, you can visibly track my improvement. And? I've had several magazine articles accepted for publication.

So, no. Writers aren't born knowing how to create perfect novels. Even if they have a natural talent, they must still learn how, the same as with any other craft.

[Zelenka]

I wrote my first complete novel (by hand) when I was in high school, so I think I must've been about 14, 15. It was a terrible piece of crime fiction based on Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, with which I was obsessed at the time. Before that I'd only done (should I admit this?) Blake's 7 fanfiction, and those were about novella sized at biggest.

My first actual novel that I tried to sub, I was 19, and it was equally awful but for some reason got some really nice comments from agencies and publishers. Kind of encouraged me to keep going despite the total failure of the book! I started writing it though or worldbuilding at least in my later years of high school so maybe 16-18.

I can't remember ever realising I wanted to be a writer, it just seems like something I've always done. I started off making up stories for my favourite shows or cartoons and kind of progressed from there.

What age I will be if I ever get published? I'm starting to think it might end up being the whole posthumous thing now....

[flarue]

how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?
Since I was very young, I suppose. I was always making up stories in my head. It just seemed natural to me.

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?
11, I guess? I was in 6th grade. (It's not published though.)

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?
Both.

[AlwaysJuly]

I've always wanted to be a writer and have always been passionate about story-telling, even before I could write. I always loved reading, and writers were my heroes when I was little.

I completed my first novel at 18, and my first half-way decent one at 24.

I think I have natural talent, but I also think I have to work hard. I think there's always something new to learn craft-wise, and I find that appealing and frustrating simultaneously.

[Coco82]

Well, I haven't finished one yet and am 29, but still am young lol. I do have however different projects in various stages of serious development. As far as how I view writing, it is my true passion. Whether I'm writing nonfiction or fiction, I love the process and in fiction the ability to bring to life characters and worlds for a reader.

[biggerbrowneyes]

I wrote my first finished novel when I was 14. And oh was querying the most terrifying experience of my life. 100% form rejections.

But I look back now and smile.

[lorna_w]

32

[Shadow_Ferret]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

I've considered myself a writer since high school.

I was 46 when I completed my first novel.

The talent is natural, the application is a labor. I can write, I just need motivation to do the old butt in chair thing.

Can I change my answer now that 6 years have gone by?

I'm at the point where I'm actually questioning if I do have any natural talent because I'm labouring and not getting any noticeable results. I've sold one short story in the time that I've seen many, many other writers here achieve publishing success.

[Harper K]

I was a wee thing -- 11 years old and in the fifth grade. My goal was to finish the novel (which was handwritten in a series of spiral notebooks, and also illustrated), before the end of the school year, and I did. It was a humorous middle-grade novel called about a girl who lived in Manhattan with her huge family, with the eventual conflict being that she wanted to stop her beloved aunt from marrying a dopey guy and moving out of the house. (She didn't stop them.) I was obsessed with Broadway musicals at the time (still am, I must admit), and I borrowed plot ideas liberally from various shows, and also from the movie Auntie Mame, starring Rosalind Russell.

I didn't even start to think about publishing until years and years later. By then I had amassed 20+ novels that I'd written just for fun and just for me, though occasionally I'd let friends read them.

About 6 years ago, I started doing some contract work for a publisher, and I learned about the pub industry and figured that with all my writing practice, I'd be able to write a new novel that I could feel good about submitting for publication. And so I sat down to bust out a draft just like I had done so many times before...

But after a while I realized that even though I had the stamina to pump out a novel-length work, and though I had definitely honed my prose over the years, I had NO idea how to craft a decent plot (stakes? What are stakes?), how to work with scene structure, how to increase tension on a micro and macro level, and all that kind of good stuff. I spent a few years working on that, and now finally, finally, at the age of 31, I'm getting the final version of one of my manuscripts ready so I can send my first queries. Phew. I have a deadline, too, in that I'm expecting my first kiddo in early November and want to be actively submitting my novel by then.

So, yeah: age 11. But also a 20-year writing journey from finished "novel" to finished NOVEL.

[Gymnogene]

I started writing my first novel when I was 15. It took me five years to complete the awful 150 000 word manuscript. Soon after finishing it, I decided to rewrite it from scratch. Now, five years later, I've reworked it into something almost unrecognisable and about half the length. I have higher hopes for this one.

[froley]

20.

[nchahine]

I had to have been around 12 - 13 when I completed my first novel. It was a historical fiction set in Ancient Egypt, around 200 pages (handwritten, so I never got around to counting the words).

Then I tore it all up after I was finished. Yes, it was that bad.

[gothicangel]

19, I think.

[Bluetrane]

Wow, I suppose I'm a late bloomer here. This year I turned 41 and completed my first novel.

For me it's something I always thought I would do, but frankly was more than a little intimidated by. I've been writing songs since I was fourteen, so I've been no stranger to writing. This year I decided to take a break from music just to see what I else I could do with the extra creative bandwidth.

I found the process of writing my novel almost effortless. For me it was like taking leg weights off after being confined to the limited real estate in a song. I set out at the end of January, figuring I would give myself a year. I was finished at the end of June. Now, my novel could be total shit and find absolutely no audience, but it was an amazing trip nonetheless.

[JinxVelox]

I wrote my first complete novel at 13 and, boy, did it suck! XD As it is, unicorns no longer have a place in my work.

[swvaughn]

First novel, 22.

But when I was 18 I put together a 90k collection of intereconnected short stories. I did 5 of these before tackling a novel, so I'd already written about 450k words.

Then I wrote nine novels, before finally selling the tenth.

OMG, this thread is so old that Konrath posted on it. And it says he's a "new kid," too...

Where's the zombie icon? :D

[fredXgeorge]

19.

[GFanthome]

I was writing little stories, did a community newspaper, and created spoofs of famous books since I was under the age of twelve, but got discouraged later when my teachers told me my writing wasn't good because (and I quote) "didn't use enough big words". So I abandoned the idea for awhile.

But then when I was in my late 20s, I wrote my first complete novel. I also became a professional writer.

What did those idiot teachers know anyway? Sigh....

____________________
One Broken Wing (http://gfanthome.wordpress.com)

[Anaquana]

The first (and so far only) novel I've finished I started writing when I was 25 and finished the first draft when I was 27.

[amlptj]

I started writing down my daydreams, or really how i wished my life would be when i was 12. I'd always been a big daydreamer, to escape from the horrible bullied life i had. I found writing came naturally for me and ever since i havent stopped. I started my series when i was 12 and finished my first book when i was 15... I'm now 21 starting on my 10th book. Do i have to labor... well sort of, writing a book isnt easy, but i honestly cant live without writing. Ever since i started its been like a drug i need to get a fix of at least once a day or I go nuts.

[EnitaMeadows]

Now, five years later, I've reworked it into something almost unrecognisable and about half the length. I have higher hopes for this one.

Same here. :P A lot of my old ideas had a LOT of potential, but hey, how much can you expect from a 10-year-old? XD At least now I can see where that potential SHOULD have gone, and I'm able to rework things into something decent!

[Mutive]

>How long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the >passion for writing?

Forever. Seriously, I think I was convinced I was going to be a writer at age 5 or something. Well, that or an astronaut. I still have the dozens of notebooks I filled up (and computer disks) from early childhood on.

>How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

18. It wasn't very good.

(Note that I wrote even worse stuff when I was like 12, but it wasn't novel length. Just...long story length.)

>Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to >labor to do?

I used to think it was a "natural talent", mostly because people oohed and ahhhed over me a lot and I won all those goofy student awards.

Time has convinced me that I am probably not a natural talent, at least not more so than most people. I have to work really hard to come up with anything I'm even half-way pleased with, and still haven't published a novel/at a professional pay scale. (This is despite publishing stuff in non-paying and low paying markets back in my teens - and having come a long way since then.) So, no, I'm not a natural talent. Maybe there are a few bits of genius in there somewhere, but they definitely don't shine without a lot of buffing.

[amergina]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

I didn't realize people would be interested in the stories in my head until I was 15. My life took a sharp turn at that moment.

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?Well, I wrote what I thought was a novel at 15. It was about 25k long, though. My first actual novel-length manuscript was completed when I was 36.

(I did write 5,000 pages of a technical manual suite in my early 30s But my name isn't on it.)

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?A bit of both? I think I do have a talent and drive for storytelling, but I certainly had to learn the proper craft to get that talent to shine on the page.

Mind you, I'm still working on and learning the craft. :)

[blacbird]

28.

caw

[Deirdre]

28, but that's about when I started writing, too.

[blacbird]

28, but that's about when I started writing, too.

I'm now 65, and have managed to get exactly zippo published. You?

caw

[vfury]

12.

It wasn't very good. :tongue The beginning of a long learning curve.

[Shara]

11. It was rubbish. Another one, at 14. That was rubbish too.

I now have two novels published, so hopefully this means I've learned a few things along the way.

I was another one of these kids who loved being given assignments in school to write stories. I'd hand in 15 pages, when everyone else had 2. I had one teacher (6th grade) who actually told me I had to learn to write shorter stories, because he didn't have time to read 15 pages.

Occasionally I entertain the notion of seeking out that teacher now and telling him, "Look! I'm a published author, in spite of your appalling lack of encouragement...."

But that would probably be childish....

Shara

[Archie1989]

I finished my first novel at 21, though I started it at 18.

[LadyA]

14. It was atrocious, but I still have the printout on my bookshelf, and I occasionally have a little read when I'm feeling down about my writing ability now, aged 17. It ALWAYS makes me feel better ;)

[Anne Lyle]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

Since my teens, I guess - basically once I no longer had to write stories for school homework!


How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Since technically that was only last year, I'm not going to 'fess up. Too old, I do know that...


Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

Writing comes easy to me. Finishing a novel-length work, not so much.


Also is there such a thing as writers block? :Sun:

Hmm. There are good reasons to have trouble writing (major RL stress or illness, for example) and some not-so-good (e.g. saying you have too little time). Everyone needs to take a break now and then, to refill the creative well, but let it go on too long and you're just making excuses, IMHO.

[Libbie]

I wrote a totally awful novel when I was fourteen. It was terrible, but I finished it. Between 14 and 28 I wrote short fiction and essays of varying degrees of goodness. At 28 I decided to take this writing thing seriously, and the first short story I put some real effort into I sold to a paying market. A few more short fiction sales followed. Then I decided to tackle novel-writing, this time seriously. I'm now working on my third novel.

I've always considered myself a writer because I love to write. But I won't consider myself A Writer until I'm living off my writing, or at least strongly supplementing my income off my writing. But that's just my personal measure for success.

I've never been really comfortable with the term "talent," especially "natural talent," implying that people who are good at something don't ever struggle with it. Writing has always been a very comfortable and pleasurable means of expression for me, but I've always seen areas where I need improvement and I always fight with my writing weaknesses. Many friends who also write tell me that it looks like writing comes very easy to me. I don't want to denigrate their own feelings of struggling with their writing by contradicting their observations, but my usual process for writing involves a lot of crying and a lot of sitting in my closet feeling angry and frustrated. So even though I apparently make it look effortless, and even though the right words or the right approach might dawn on me a little faster or easier than for some other folks, I still spend a lot of my writing time crying in the closet.

Also, the concept of a "natural talent" helps perpetuate the idea that some people "are just born that way" and can create whatever their art or talent is from the womb. This is just not true. I've known a very large number of artists of all kinds throughout my life, ever since my early childhood, and while yes, some of them seem to grasp the basics of their art very quickly, all of them have to think about it, study it, screw up now and then, and fix their screwups.

And whether you are one of those people who learns an art very quickly (and thus looks to the world as if you have "natural talent" for it) or whether you have to go to school, put in hours and hours each day of working at developing your talent, and struggle daily with grasping the concepts of your art, the end result is the same. Who cares whether you have to train the hell out of yourself and work your butt off, or whether you put in relatively little sweat and closet-tears? Either way you end up with a damn good piece of writing, and the readers can't tell the difference between a writer who is a "natural" and one who learned. So in the end, natural vs. acquired talent matters not a whit.

[Deirdre]

I'm now 65, and have managed to get exactly zippo published. You?

12 novels (under a house name, thankfully long out of print)
4 non-fiction books, one of them co-authored
a plethora of articles (I used to write a short piece per day and submit them for a daily Linux-related column) and chapters for other non-fiction books
a handful of poems

...and, in sf/f...

one short story, sold twice.

[SRHowen]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

Hmm, about 40 years now.

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

In middle school, think I was 12 or 13, used to write long hand in class and the teachers thought I was taking notes. 300k plus, omni POV.

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

I've always told stories, and was one of those who in school turned in pages of story vs just getting the assigned word count down. And I also had helpful teachers tell me that I should focus on something that I would be able to make money at.

And had one teacher never return a short story to me that later when editing for an adult publication she submitted it under her name. (Myself and another writer friend in our senior year of HS wrote a couple of stories that were not appropriate subject matter for HS just to shock her) I had the magazine attorney contact her and the rest is PI.

Also is there such a thing as writers block?

I think all writers get stuck sometimes, there are many reasons that they end up with writer's block. It's how you handle it that turns it into writer's block or just an obstacle to write through. I set a daily goal of words and if I hit a flat spot I write anyway, even if I delete everything the next day, I write and over time I don't end up with writer's block at all.

[schadenfreude]

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

12. It was utter rubbish. Utter rubbish.

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

I don't know how I feel about this question. I have a "natural talent" for painting portraits, I suppose, under the phrasing of this question, in that I don't struggle with it at all. Writing, however, I can't see as being a "natural talent" for anyone in that sense. While I don't have to force myself to sit down, or to absorb inspiration, there are always aspects of my writing that I struggle with. One is viewpoint, and sometimes it stunts my progress for an entire day if I can't stop some sort of incessant nagging in my head about it. I think it's sort of like singing - You can have the potential to hit those big belting notes, and a love and passion for it, but you can struggle for whatever factors there are.

Reading over this post, what a load of bollocks.

[Kreuse]

14. Reread it not long ago, and if I ever want to make something out of it, I need to rewrite almost completely loll.

[LJD]

25.

I've wanted to write a novel since I was 7. So considering that, it took a long time for me to actually do it...

[RoseColoredSkies]

I was 18 when I finished my first novel. It was...interesting. I've enjoyed writing for a long time but only really started getting into it in college. Those first few manuscripts are never seeing the light of day, though.

[CBrothers]

I've always considered myself a writer. I started many books over the years that made it to around the 10,000 word mark, but i always lost interest.

I recently completed my first ms, at age 28.

[scarletpeaches]

I wrote my first sestina when I was a foetus.

[celticroots]

I was thirteen when I discovered my passion for writing, and completed my first novel at that age. It was absolutely horrible, but I like the idea and would like to work with the idea and actually write something decent. Prior to that, I'd always made up stories in my head.

I am currently working on my first "real" novel, and have another on the back burner that I am almost done with. I've also been writing a lot of short fiction.

[toldyouso]

I've been telling stories since I was about 3 or 4 years old, I made my mother write them down as I dictated to her. I was that obnoxious little girl who said she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. But of course it was years before I realised what it would mean, to pursue it. I am still getting a grip on it. I made my first attempt at a 'novel' when I was 11, but it got unwieldy and I had no idea how to do it or who to ask. Finished what was really a novella when I was 18 - it was so profoundly terrible, I don't even have the words. But I used so many adjectives in it that I'm sure I'd have some spare ones kicking around to use if I needed. ;)

I don't know how to answer the 'natural talent' question. I know it's natural for me to want to do it because there's nothing else that I've wanted. That has meant I have worked at it for a long time and will always be working at it. It probably only feels like talent, like something natural because I've gotten better at it through persistance and hard work. Sometimes I just sit down and it feels magical, like it just happens. Other times it's like bashing my head against a wall. There are so many skills you need to be a good writer and I think if you want it enough, you work on all of them as you go.

[C.bronco]

I was 8. It was a page and a half. My brother almost got to four pages on his (The Devil's Slaughterhouse). Mine was untitled, but had an opening scene about JFK meeting with Queen Mary (Okay, I know) to discuss the Venutian invasion.
It's all been good ever since!

[eward]

I finished a novella when I was 15. I thought it was a novel at the time lol I don't know exactly how many words it was, but it was at least 50 pages. Finished another novella (33,000 words) at 17. I was so proud of myself for those two because I never finished anything I wrote. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of stories went unfinished.

First "real" novel: 21. 76,000 words.

[Parametric]

I finished my 110k first novel around my sixteenth birthday.

[Aubie]

I was 26 when I finished my very first completed novel, but I've been writing stories and sticking them under my bed since I was around 7. Now I'm almost 29. My first novel was crap, but I'm learning. :)

[SeanBlack]

Thirty nine. First novel. First sale. If I'd known the odds of that happening, I doubt very much whether I'd ever have started it. There's a certain power in being completely naive about things.

[Glorium]

I completed the first draft of my original novel at about 120k when I was seventeen.

It was shit. Lol.

[huu]

I wrote several "novels" in middle school, but they were really aimless stories. They would go and go until I had no more steam to write or until I got bored and moved onto something else.

[Charlie Horse]

I was 108 when I started writing my first novel. Finished it at 110. Have written three others since. At 115 I'm starting my fifth novel. Thankfully, my species live well into their 140's.

[milly]

31 :) Started it and finished it in 8 weeks. Two years to the month later, I've completed 5 novels and I'm still learning!

[Carradee]

My mother tells me I've stories since before I could talk (and they were dark, even then, despite how sheltered I was). :) I enjoyed creative writing assignments in school, and I was a voracious reader, but my own stories pretty much stayed in my head, because I figured nobody would be interested in them but me. (My family isn't much into spec fic, which is what I like.)

I only sat down and started seriously writing when I hit 14 and came up with an original novel idea. Finished it at 17. It's in the junk drawer. I've now been writing for a decade, freelance as a web writer and copywriter. If I only count original fiction and not fan fiction, I've drafted 7 novels that I can think of off the top of my head, 3 of which are shelved. I think I'm forgetting something, though.

It's a mix of labor and talent, I think.

[Flicka]

29. But it was just a first draft. I never polished and truly 'finished' it.

[DreamBubble]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

I've been writing since I was about six or seven years old. I'm twenty now. I wrote my first novel of roughly 42K words when I was seven and a half. It's completely craptastic, of course, but I wrote it. I'm sure I still have the floppy disk somewhere in my parents' house.

I've always loved writing. At one point I wanted to be a journalist, but I quickly threw that idea out when I got to high school and realized I was more into novel-writing and script-writing than realistic prompt-writing.

I consider writing to be a mix of natural talent and a labor of love. I'm naturally gifted with the ability to write well, but I have to sit and really think about what it is I'm trying to write and get it out of my head in a way that's clear to others.

[seun]

Since this thread started six years ago, I've got no idea if I've posted in it or not.

In any case, 21. It was utter balls.

[Dave Hardy]

I've been writing short-stories/novellas off & on since 1997 when I was living in Prague & literally had so much time on my hands I managed to break the laziness that I had allowed to hold me back.

I completed & subbed my first novel this year, at the age of 44, & it will be published by Musa next year.

Never waste time, you can't get it back.

[CrastersBabies]

I wrote my first at 20, second at 23 and both were utter pieces of garbage. I wish I would have saved them just so I could show the power of their suck.

:)

I had no idea what I was doing, though, had no classes, never even picked up a book on craft. So, it was full of newb mistakes.

[Jamilah]

When I was in high school I wrote a 200-page novel about the first black president of the United States. This was in the early '70s, and I thought he would be elected in 1988. (I was slightly optimistic.) Like Barack Obama, he was biracial. He had deeper personal problems though because his wife died just days before he took the oath of office. Of course, that novel will never see the light of day, but I guess it was good exercise. It would be nearly thirty years before I wrote another novel.

[LadyDae]

I was fourteen years old and it was a hot mess that is now on the final edit six years later. I lived life, learned a lot, read some more and it went from a 110k word mess to a 70k word piece of art... in my opinion anyway.

[KMH Stone]

I first attempted to write a novel when I was 15. It was a load of crap so I put it in the bin after 10 pages. I stated writing my second novel idea when I was 19 and I am still trying to complete it at the age of 25. It looks like it will end up being a 10 year project. I am clearly not good at managing my time effectively but I have been "busy" with work, an undergrad degree in law and I just completed a masters degree in law as well.

[Katrina S. Forest]

had the passion for writing?

Since I knew that books were written by people as opposed to appearing out of thin air. I have one of those "School Memories" books where you fill out a bunch of questions every school year. There isn't a single year that "writer" or "author" doesn't appear under the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up/graduate?"

In the last few years of high school, I added "teacher" alongside "author," and in kindergarten I was also open to the possibility of being a ballerina. :)

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Like blacbird, I thought this was in 5th grade, but turned out it that was more of a chapter book. I don't have it on hand, but my guess is it was about 10,000 words, and it was about a girl looked a lot like me saving endangered animals in her backyard. (Must be a "first novel" thing.) First real, complete, original novel I wrote when I was 23 or 24. I include all those adjectives because there were several novel-length pieces I wrote before that but either they had scenes missing or they were not-so-subtle fanfiction.

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?

Can I write a novel with without effort? Yes. Can I write a good novel without effort? No. The reason there are so many books about writing is because many people write, but they aren't sure how to write stuff that sells. It's the reason I'll pick up a good craft book now and again, because I'm certainly no expert.

The novel I'm currently subbing was the first time I really edited a novel. Not surface editing, but really ripped the guts out of the thing and put it back together. It's the only novel I've written (and I've won NaNoWriMo 7 years in a row) that I feel comfortable putting in front of agents. Everything before that was fun, but practice. :)

[Elenitsa]

I was 12... but don't ask me about the logic that novel had! It was a western one, I still have it and I die of laughter.

The first one I liked it and I considered it good enough to be transcribed on the computer (even if with edits, of course) I was 16 when writing it.

[Commutinggirl]

Well...well...well...
I started writing like many others poems and little stories when I was around 12. In high school I started writing what I had hoped would become a finished novel but it stopped at about 70 pages. The story line is still in the back of my head though so maybe it will come to fruition in the next years. Second attempt: about 50 pages, I did not get to know my MCs enough and did not feel them. However their voices still speak to me from times to times. There were some other tries in-between...
Right now I am at 108 pages and my goal is to finish it by the time I am 31.
I have learned to accept past "failures" as possible future successes and concentrate on nurturing my relationship with the MCs of the novel I am currently writing :-)

[Viktor Night]

I wrote some short stories, a few starting chapters to a novel and a whole bunch of loose scenes in my teenage years. Then life got in the way. Things were so crappy for so long that I forgot about writing completely as I spent all my energy on trying to make ends meet. By the time I turned 29, I'd finally gotten my finances in order enough that when I got laid off from my job I discovered I had enough money to not have to worry and suddenly a lot of free time. Then, without thinking about it, I just sat down and started writing my first novel. Time + Money = Rediscovered passion. Been writing ever since and loving it.

[Adrianna Burch]

Hmmm, I'll tell you when I get there ;)

[RAL]

Am 40 now, still haven't finished it :)





ral

(edit - just saw my post count is 40 as well ... must be a good omen! )

[Phaeal]

Sixteen. It was a sweet yet edgy story about a rock star who would disguise himself as a London cab driver in order to roam the city unnoticed. He meets a weird American artist in Picadilly and takes her home. Love ensues.

Alas, this brilliant work has disappeared in the sands of time.

I was very pissed off when the high school lit mag wouldn't publish it. Too long? Too LONG???

Philistines. Or maybe they rejected it because I subbed the original notebook copy, handwritten in purple and green ink?

[cameronreddy]

I was 41 when I finished the original version of my upcoming novel, "By Force Of Patriots." I'm 52, now.

[lorna_w]

34-36, somewhere in there.

It wasn't bad, but it didn't sell to the first three places and I eventually threw it out (I know, I know! And I was getting personal rejections! What a silly person I was--could be making 99 cents on kindle on it now.) But then life interfered--I had to work for a long time after that and barely got a handful of poems out every year.

[Snowstorm]

48-ish.

In fact, the short story that eventually became this novel was the first piece of fiction I'd ever written. That short story was written the year before I rewrote it to a novel.

[utopianmonk]

Well, the first novel I attempted to write was started when I was 10 or so. It was about four talking pets: a dog, a gerbil, a hamster, and a raccoon. I was channeling Brian Jacques, or so I thought.

I started the next when I was 12. Seven years and many revisions later, I've finally finished it and it's actually worth something. I learned a ton along the way.

[Ol' Fashioned Girl]

I was in the 6th grade when I started my brilliant series 'The Space Adventures of Pamela Palmer'. They were probably closer to short-story length - but to a 6th grader they were ever so long! I wrote a lot of Mary Sue Fan Fiction in junior high (before it was even called 'fan fiction'), then in college I participated in a lot of 'what if' story writing: I'd write a chapter, a friend would take the next chapter; then it was back to me for the third and so forth. My first real, honest-to-goodness novel was 'Evil's Own Trinity', below. I wrote it when I was about 30, and it languished in a drawer while I wrote 'Before I Forget September' (now with my agent, waiting... waiting... waiting...) and I wrapped up 'This Lesser Earth', also below, late last year. Since I'm 57, it's taken 27 or so years to complete three novels, though each one - like giving birth - only took about nine months from putting pen to paper to writing 'Finis'. (Yeah... I used to write 'em long hand with a Bic pen on a yellow legal pad!)

Ahhhh, the good ol' days!

[Gwendolyn]

I was 13. It was horrible, though.

I had been writing short stories since I was 7 or so, though. I have saved a lot of my short stories.

Wrote my second novel-length story when I was 17/18.

Most of my stuff has been short stories, though.

[cmi0616]

My WIP now would be my first novel. I was 16 when I started it, and I'm closing in on the end of the first draft now at 17 years old.

[chickenrising]

19

[ucf612]

Hi there everyone, how long as everyone considered themselves a writer or had the passion for writing?

How old were you when you wrote your first complete novel?

Do you consider writing a natural talent for you, or one you have to labor to do?



1. I started writing a few months ago, so not long at all!

2. Well I'm 29 now and I'm not finished with my first WIP yet. I hope to have it complete before I turn 30. I also plan to participate in NaNoWriMo this year so maybe I'll churn out a complete novel first draft next month. One can dream.

3. I'd say somewhere in between. I still have a whole lot to learn about writing fiction. I was trained in writing things like press releases so it is a whole different world doing creative writing.

[Victoria]

Began: 37
Ended: 39
Begin edits: 39
Complete edits: Um, I'll get back to you...

[RAL]

My WIP now would be my first novel. I was 16 when I started it, and I'm closing in on the end of the first draft now at 17 years old.


me too, except end would be middle and 17 would be 40 ;)




ral

[Shika Senbei]

I was 14. The amount of drugs I have taken to try to forget that event boggles the mind.

[BRDurkin]

I think I was 16 or 17 by the time I finished my first "novel," though I've been writing since I was 10. It was actually a series of 5 short "books" that in hindsight, should have been "parts" rather than separate books. It's my hope that work will never see the light of day in its current form, but it's the project that convinced me I really did want to be a published author some day.

[Christyp]

I'm like a lot of people who have already answered; storytelling has been a part of who I am as long as I can remember. I started writing the moment I learned to arrange words into sentences (okay, maybe not the moment). I used to write a lot of novella length stories in middle school (all about The New Kids on the Block or boys from Mickey Mouse Club), and some very dark poetry in high school. But my first full length complete novel didn't come about until I was in my thirties. Okay, I'll be honest...it just happened last year.

[chislarina]

I started loving writing when I was 5, and the moment I had a taste for it I wanted to do it for the rest of my life. It took 10 years of writing before I started considering myself as a writer though. Prior to that, I was in the grey area of being partly a writer.

Which is odd, because I wrote my first novel aged 12, a few years before I started seeing myself as a writer. I then proceeded to write three more novels, one of which was actually semi-decent as a first draft, before I viewed myself as a writer. Since, I've written another two novels, one of which has the potential to be brilliant, the other I hate too much to even consider it right now. So for me, the concept of being a writer is a bit blurred. I'm not really sure why.

It's fairly easy for me to write, maybe because I did it from such a young age. The hard bit for me is sticking to a project till the end.

[AbbyBabble]

For me, writing is a natural passion. I do it for fun. Editing and marketing can be hard work, but the first draft is always a joyful experience.

I wrote my first novel at age 12. It was 400 pages, typewritten (I didn't have a computer at the time). Before that, I wrote a series of short books, and also a 200 page book.

Then I quit writing for eight years, because a major NY editor at Random House rejected my first novel ... she didn't know I was a kid, and she wrote a scathing rejection letter. The exact phrases she used included "This sounds like a mentally retarded person wrote it," and "Somehow, God knows how, I finally finished reading it." When she learned that I was 12, she sent a follow-up letter offering a publication contract, figuring she could market a novel written by a child, if I agreed to make some edits. But I refused, certain that her first rejection was the honest one, which meant I wasn't cut out to be a writer.

I started writing again in college, needing an outlet for all the stories in my head. I was pleasantly surprised that online crit groups generally encouraged me and liked my style. So I submitted a short story to a magazine, and got published on my first try ... $5 Canadian. :-) After that, I got serious about writing.

My most productive idea-generating period was around age 20 - 24. Enjoy those years!!!

I wrote a 520,000 word epic novel during that time, and a stand-alone YA novel of 60,000 words. After I went through the Odyssey Writing Workshop, I made extensive edits, reducing my epic to two novels of 105,000 words and 100,000 words. I also wrote two sequels. Now I'm seeking an agent or publisher for the first one in that series. The stand-alone is shelved, for now.

I always have way too many ideas and too little time to do it in ! :/ I always hear people saying " I can't think of a novel to write" or " I have a novel I want to write, I just don't know how to write a novel". There are books that tell you how to structure a story and how to make good characters. I even see books on "how to write a novel". Should this just come natrually if you a writer? I mean there is always room for improvement with classes/seminars/writing groups, but shouldn't a writer know these things? Just wondering how everyone else's writing experiance is. Also is there such a thing as writers block? :Sun:

Too many ideas and too little time is the story of my life! I wish I could extend my lifespan to fit in time to write all the novels I want to write.

Writer's block seems to happen when people either run out of ideas, or run out of motivation to write. Neither has ever happened to me. However, I suppose it's possible ... maybe in 30 or 40 years.

[Storm Surge]

Does it count as finished if you gave up and trunked it? If so, then 17. If not, never. I started writing regularly when I was 15. So far I've got four trunked novels and one first draft that is looking sadly at me since I need to get around to revising it.

Natural talent? No. I suck. But I enjoy writing so I'm not about to stop. :)

[Laura J]

I will be 47, because I have many months until my 48th birthday. I will finish my first draft in the next two weeks.

I have written and self published a number of mystery party games for kids. Kind of like those murder mystery games, but not murder. I have sold a number of those along with party guides for parents. But, this is my first novel.

I've always been a story teller.

[WhatTheWhat]

I was 12. Between 12 and 17 (then I became consumed with "real" work in college), I wrote three complete novellas, and a screenplay, and left a bunch of novels quite long and unfinished. When I was in my twenties I wrote several TV scripts for fun (most definitely not fanfic, though). When I was employed full time as a writer, the last thing I wanted to do was write during my off time, so it took till now (in my forties and freelancing) to actually start completing MSS again.

[Tienci]

25.
I started it at 24 and it took me eight months to complete. It 'finished' at about 94k and happens to also be my first trunked novel. :o

[Manuel Royal]

Would have been 15; circumstances derailed the effort at about 80,000 words. Instead, I'll be 51.

[Feathers]

It's weird, because my first novel wasn't a big deal to me. I know by deduction that I had to be about 12--and it was a 70k draft--but I didn't think there was anything significant about it. It was just a long story. It was my second novel, at age 13, that made me realize I loved writing and wanted to be a writer. After that, I wrote nonstop.

[Laura J]

There are quite a few kids in our homeschool co-op that have written novels by the time they are 12. I think they are amazing and impressive. I taught a class on creating a board game based on a book and like half of the kids made their games about books they had written themselves. My son is 12 and wants to write a book, but just doesn't have enough stick-to-it-ness, to get it done. I think it is impressive.

[StoneWheller]

I wrote my first story that I remember when I was twelve in English class. I fell in love with stories. Writing, reading, it has been a part of me for so long. I wrote my first full length novel at fifteen--in longhand. It wasn't that long, but it was all there.

[BotByte]

Started: 123 (just ones on my computer. I lost about a dozen of my first a while back)
Not many are over 50,000 words though
Finished: NONE
I don't say I haven't finished one yet. Even if I publish one, I'd probably look back on and it try to change it. Always room for improvement.

I think the one I finished writing was about when I was 17, about 2 years ago. It was alright, great ending though. It was a massive war scaled on a mountain range and everything went crashing down.

[Charlie Horse]

I was 25 when I decided I wanted to be a writer. Thought about it for another 20 some years. Actually started writing my first novel at 47. Finished it some time before my 50th birthday. Now, at 55 I'm working on my fifth. At this point I'm beginning to think I know what I'm doing.

[CheshireCat]

First finished novel?

21.

It was also my first published novel.

[texas_girl]

I'm going to say, hopefully 21. I only have about two or three more scenes to go and I'll be finished. It may be rough but it will still be a novel.

[Mharvey]

Complete novel? 17.

Good novel? Jury's still out on whether or not I have. ;)

[Damian Foyle]

Haven't finished my first yet. I started last year, and I'm hoping to finish it as a big-30 present to myself.

[Shara]

I'm not sure, I'm 16 and have written about 1 complete novel that I absolutely hated so it has to go into editing. Then, at 14 I finished a novel, didn't like it and rewrote it. I finished when I was 15, decided I didn't like it and rewrote it. Now, I'm 16 and I still don't like it so I'm rewriting it. At this pace, I'll be 40 before I finish it!



I was 11. I was churning out novels at a rate of knots for a few years after that. None of them were any good, of course.

DamaNegra, I did the same as you. Wrote a complete novel at 14, didn't like it, rewrote it at 16, still didn't like it, rewrote it again at 17, and again at 19.

The result was a horrible mess and I ended up shelving it. The problem is that you learn so much about yourself and the world during your teenage years that your writing changes very fast, and there's a big difference between your writing year or year. Every time you look at what you wrote the year before, it looks childish and immature.

I ended up taking this novel and using it as a learning experience, and never getting it published. I shelved it when I was about 21.

The next novel I wrote, however, although it took me much longer to write it (10 years), was SUFFER THE CHILDREN and was the frist novel I got published.

So I do know of what I speak (I'm now 42, BTW...)!

Shara