My 7 year old announced that he wants to be a writer and enter writing competitions, just like his Mama. Which made my heart sing, although it’s not anywhere near as funny as his previous ambition, as expressed when he was aged 3: “I want to be a hairdresser and make everybody as beautiful as me!” (meaning him, not me! – that’s when I wondered whether all the compliments about his golden locks may have been slightly overdone).
I googled and found a writing comp for junior authors, and he became very excited when I told him first prize was $100. He forgot about writing the story and spent lots of time thinking about all the wonderful things that the loot could get him.
So I told him “First- catch your rabbit.” Not being familiar with Mrs Beeton’s cookery book, I explained the analogy. He went away and thought about it, and started to write.
Then he showed me what he’d written. It was a story about hunters trying to kill their quarry in the school yard: a rabbit.
You get your inspiration in whatever form it comes.
Awwww. That's SO cute!!! My stepdaughter announced not long ago that she wanted to write a novel. She started writing one, but got bored with it. I think that sums up the writing life. Writing a novel always sounds good when you say you're going to do it, but once you sit down and realize you've only written 2 pages and have 200 more to go, it's not so much fun anymore! (Well, for everyone except those of us who are crazy!)
ReplyDeleteOh and BTW, you seem to love contests. Have you seen this?:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stephiesmith.com/contests.html
Let's see... love contests? Well, I'm not sure that love is the way I feel about them, it's more like a strategy to get some recognition as an unpublished author (assuming that I win or place, of course). As there's a deadline, it also gives me incentive to finish.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link- gosh, so many comps, so little time!