The 10-Year-Old Writer

This past weekend, my husband and I drove up to Indiana for my cousin's wedding. I grabbed a random notebook out of a box of them I keep in the study so I could have something to write with on the drive up.

This notebook turned out to be an old one from my younger years ... and it was chock-full of hilarious stories, complete with weird drawings and misspellings.

We passed this lovely attraction on the way.

I thought I would share one of them. I was around 10-11 when I wrote this, and a terrible speller (I am still a terrible speller, but I am MUCH better at faking it now). I have kept all the spelling errors, as I think they add something to the ridiculousness of it all.

***

SPACE SETTLERS: THE DIARY OF SKY LUNARMOON

(a story by me, age 10-ish)

My notes are in red.

August 18, 2052

   Dear Diary,

   Hello, I am Sky Lunermoon oh my gosh, that name!, and you are my brand-new, battery-powered type writer diary. Apparently this was the best technology I could envision for 2052, LOL. Let me tell you about myself. I am 11 years old today. I have 2 brothers, Mark, 13, and Cris, 9. I also have 1 sister, Ivy, she's 16, and another sister on the way. I Mom had an ultrasound and knows for sure. This was the extent of my knowledge about "knowing you were pregnant" at age 10.  Also, I thought big families were cool, so my stories always included an army of siblings.
   Then there's Volb-35C (Volb for short) and Lunar\-J-5 (Jay for short). They're our robots. LOL. I was reading the story aloud, and this was the point where my husband started laughing hysterically. He didn't stop laughing for pretty much the whole thing, either.
   Next, pets. Rigal and Andrea are my cats (they're named for stars). Rigal is a boy, and Andrea a girl. Then, Meteorite, our German Sheperd [sic]. We call her Meter for short.
   And I'll call you something. Something like ... Georgia. Yes! I'm from Georgia, and I know a really nice lady named Georgia. You'll be my friend Georgia. I lived in Georgia. Don't think I knew any "nice ladies" named that, though...

August 20, 2052

   Dear Georgia,

    Dad is getting more power converters, so we can get another "sonar star trek" game for our gameroom. I can't wait! The only explanation I can offer is that I watched a lot of star wars and star trek at this age. Hence the "power converters."

August 24, 2052

   Georgia,

   We're moving! It's not that bad, 'cause Star, my best friend, is going with us! Her family wants to go to [sic], which I think is really good. There's someone for everyone. Jake, Star's brother, for Mark and Cris, Star for me, and Star's 17-year-old sister Konnie for Ivy. (And of course, thier [sic] mom and dad.)
  Were [sic] are we going? To Tordian, a warm distant planet. We will live in a house connected with a big base, like living in a mall. There will be stores to shop at and resterants [sic] to eat at. There will be a big greenhouse full of grass, plants, and animals, and will have a glass roof to let sunlight in. We can go there any time we want! This was pretty much my dream life as a child--a space station with greenhouses and a mall-like area where I could hang out with my friends.  

August 27, 2052

   It's a good thing the robots can help pack! It's so hard! But our main computer helps us and most things we have are programed to fold up really small. Got to go pack ... I guess at this point I got tired of the "dear Georgia" thing ... Also, I was very fond of exclamation points as a child, as you can see.

August 29, 2052

   Today we went to see our spaceship we'll travel in. It is very big, and in a cylinder shape. It has huge energie [sic] engines on the back. It's really nice inside, with comfy bedrooms, a navigator control room, a kitchen, and a sitting room with a hologram gameboard in it! Nope, I had no star wars influence AT ALL when it came to my imagination :) Also, a sitting room? What the heck. I also like the computer, it was nice!

September 7, 2052

   Dear Georgia,

   We have to wait for the rest of the convoy and the supply ships before we can leave for the other planet. I'm excited, but also sad, because I don't want to leave earth.

September 8, 2052

   Dearest Georgia,

   Star and I watched some 3-D TV. It was a really neat movie about laser guns and how they work. I'm glad we get to take all our TVs with us. Two things. 1) the future is now! 3-D TV in 2011! and 2) my siblings and I were weird, because we loved "educational TV" and watched Discovery channel stuff all the time.

September 12, 2052

   Oh, Georgia! Good grief, this is the lamest thing I've ever read. But then, I was totally prone to drama at that age.

   The supply ships are convoy are here! I'm really nervous and happy at once, because we leave two days from now!

September 13, 2052

   Nervous!!

September 14, 2052

   We leave to day [sic]! Oh, what lies ahead? That inky black expanition [sic, I meant expansion] of space and stars is scary. What does the future hold? This was my attempt at some kind of ending. Most likely I got bored with my space diary. Too bad I didn't keep writing about the journey itself, because I'm sure THAT would have produced some serious hilarity.

The cat is a sticker, BTW.

***

So there you have it. An authentic, ten-year-old Katie story. The notebook is full of little gems like this one.

The writing itself is fairly lame, even for my age, and my only defense is that I possessed the understanding of a typical 10-or-11-year-old's diary style and thus wrote accordingly. My actual short stories were at least a LITTLE better around this time. But anyway. 

Funny stuff!

Roller Coasters and Writing: Experiencing the Click

If you've ever ridden a wooden roller coaster, maybe you remember how it goes--first the car leaves the station with a hiss of releasing brakes and a slight jerk. Usually the track twists a little, sometimes there's a slight dip to get the cars moving a little faster, and then there's the incline. You begin to go up the first hill based on speed gained through gravity alone, and then ... there's a jerk and a click as the safety rachet engages, and then a clack clack clack clack clack as the cars are dragged to the top.

And then you're flying.

Sometimes writing a book feels a bit like a roller coaster to me. And I don't mean that in the emotional way--although it definitely has those aspects too--but what I wanted to focus on is that click.

I can't write the book until I experience it, actually.

When I first think up a story and all the elements--characters, setting, conflict, resolution--everything is jumbled up. I can't see how it all flows together. I fumble with the characters, sifting through their personalities, weaknesses, strengths, trying to understand what makes them tick and what motivates them. I ruminate on the world and what challenges the setting presents. Sometimes I get impatient and try to start writing, only to delete chapters of material later. See, I'm waiting for the click.

Once it happens, the story grabs hold of me and drags me forward. Everything (voice, emotional resonance, theme) rushes together in a moment of clarity, and I can really begin, because now it all makes sense. It's like being pulled up that first hill. Then everything starts moving really, really fast.

I'm not sure how this could be taught or learned, or even adequately described. It's very instinctive to me, and based completely on intuition.

Do you ever experience "the click?"