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I cannot accurately express in words how much I love writing fiction. One might say, "but you're a writer, of course you can!" to which I would reply, "well, can you describe how you love your mother? your father? your friends? your lover?" If you can, just keep in mind it is not an accurate representation of what you feel for that person, and as all writers know (and have been told a million times over -- if this is news to you, you haven't been in the game very long) you must show, not tell. Now, that is a completely unfair thing to say to someone, because words do, by definition, tell people things. I guess, then, that the trick is being able to mercilessly dominate words until their ability to show greatly precedes their ability to tell.
I've been writing stories for just about half my life (which, considering I am only going to be 20 this year, quite a while). It started in elementary school; I always made up little stories about things in my head, like the dinosaurs on my ruler, or little stick and bark chip people we made at recess. But it wasn't until fifth grade that I first put a story to paper, and it was for a young writers conference in Portland, at the community college (I think it was at PCC, but I was there by myself with no one I knew so I was a bit too nervous to pay attention). I am not ashamed to say that I sucked by comparison to most of the kids I met there, but I can also say that I was the youngest in my little sub-group. After that conference I certainly caught the writing bug, and have been writing (and, thank goodness, improving!) since then. I still have stories I wrote (and didn't finish, alas) in middle school, which are atrocious and self-serving compared to what I can write now. Granted, I'll probably never show them to anyone, expect maybe to show them how not to write.
I'm sure I've gone on about myself long enough. Enjoy some kittens now!
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