This blog is a place I made to talk about my journey to becoming a writer and everything that’s come with it so far :) It’s mostly a way for me to get my own thoughts out, but if anyone happens to stumble across it and relate, that’s great too! It’s always so encouraging to connect with other writers and share about the joys and struggles of this wonderful medium.
Having spent most of my professional life as a videogame developer, my path to writing is a bit of a roundabout one that probably looks very random on paper.
But wait! I promise there's a common thread running through it all if you stick with me ‘til the end :)
First things first. From the time I was little, I always loved making things and was drawn to creative fields. I grew up going to Walt DisneyWorld with my grandmother and was fascinated by the “behind-the-scenes” rides where you got to learn about animation, special effects, music and everything else it took to create something out of nothing to make experiences for people to enjoy. To me, it was a form of magic.
Let’s go see some behind the scenes stuff, Grandma!
That magic stuck with me as I got older, and in my pre-teen years I discovered a similar spark when, through my WalkMan headphones, I heard violinist Joshua Bell play Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro on a classical CD my mom had forced me to bring on a trip to Jamaica. My 13-year-old brain was amazed that such a beautiful, moving sound could come from a piece of wood with strings stretched across it, and there it was again: that act of creating something from nothing and turning it into magic. It once again blew my mind, and eventually led me to major in violin performance in college.
Joshua Bell being amazing
Me trying to be Joshua Bell
But halfway through my violin studies in college, a surprise happened! Because I went to Carnegie Mellon — a school known for both arts and technology — I ended up accidentally stumbling across robotics and computer science. Until then, neither were fields I’d even known I was interested in, but robotics brought back memories of the Audio Animatronics I’d been so fascinated with as a kid at DisneyWorld, and I was curious to see what it was all about behind the scenes. I decided to take an introductory class called “Fun with Robots” as a break from my music studies, and was immediately hooked. Right away, I recognized that coding was yet another way to make cool stuff out of nothing, and I loved it.
My discovery of the tech side eventually led me to the wonderful world of videogames, and soon after “Fun with Robots”, I joined the school’s video game creation club. Videogames seemed to hold boundless opportunities for unique world-building and storytelling, and I found that I loved the way they brought together so many different creative disciplines — art, music, technology, writing — not unlike the magical experiences that had inspired me as a child at DisneyWorld.
Using my musical background, I started out composing videogame soundtracks for the club and later took computer science classes so I could learn to program the games as well.
Some game music I wrote during that time
I continued with my music and programming studies throughout the end of college and then moved on to graduate school at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center, a program that focuses on combining the “left brain” and “right brain” to create interactive media (even MORE making stuff! Yay!) As I worked on projects there, I quickly realized that I not only loved making things, but especially making things for kids, which wasn’t surprising given that I’d always gravitated towards children’s entertainment myself.
But hold on, this is supposed to be a blog about writing, isn’t it? What’s all this about DisneyWorld and violin and videogames for kids? Well, the reason I haven’t mentioned anything about books yet is because I have a terrible secret. One that I should probably admit before I go any further...
*drumrooooll*
I hated reading from the ages of 10 to 20. Gasp. I know. It’s awful, but it’s true.
Here’s the thing: I loved to read in elementary school (Half Magic and the Anastasia Krupnik books were my jam), but then something terrible happened. We started getting tested on books in middle school, and I got super stressed out. Not to bash school or any of my wonderful teachers, but unfortunately, the pressure to remember facts about a book so I could fill them out on a test zapped all the joy out of reading for me. I developed a compulsive habit of reading every sentence of every book at least three times so that I’d remember everything. I don’t think this method even worked, but sadly it turned reading into nothing but a painful, agonizing chore. I completely forgot the joy of reading words on paper and having them turn into incredible worlds inside my head.
For ten long, sad years.
A non-staged photo someone took of me trying to read The Hobbit on a camping trip
But then one day, my graduate-school friend Amy told me that I should really read Harry Potter, because seriously, how had I not?
“No thanks,” I told her. “I hate reading.”
“Come on, it’s really good.”
“I hate reading. I’m a slow reader.” I told her about my 3x sentence problem.
“Here, try the first book on tape,” she said, handing me Jim Dale’s recording of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. “Then you won’t get bogged down.”
Reluctantly, I took it home, and because I didn’t want to disappoint Amy, I listened. And guess what? Amy was totally right (duh). It was really, really good (double duh). So good, in fact, that a few weeks later I picked up Chamber of Secrets at the library, in book form, by choice — a feat I hadn’t performed since elementary school (the only reason I even had a library card at the time was for checking out Jillian Michaels workout DVDs).
I took Chamber of Secrets home and for the first time in ten years, I read. For FUN. Harry, Ron and Hermione became my friends. I was blown away by how the words on the paper turned into an epic visual movie reel inside my head — something I’d completely forgotten that books could do. The spark that was once my elementary school love of reading was suddenly rekindled, and the rest is history.
But wait, isn’t this blog supposed to be about writing? Not music and videogames and finally rediscovering that reading is awesome? Yes, and I’m almost there, I promise (I told you it was roundabout).
After graduate school, I moved out to the Midwest to work as a programmer at a small company that makes educational videogames for kids, and spent most of my free time devouring all the literature I’d missed out on during the years I thought I hated books.
I made a lot of incredible fictional friends (Harriet M. Welsch, Ramona Quimby, Mary Anne Spier), discovered I had a favorite genre (middle grade), and even learned new things about myself, like that I love being scared to death (thanks, Stephen King!)
And somewhere along the way, I began to realize that the same magic I’d always been drawn to creatively existed right here in all these books. These authors were taking words, and using them to craft immersive worlds for people — just like bowing across the four strings of a violin to create music or coding algorithms to build videogame worlds.
The other thing I began to realize was that the middle grade books I loved most were the ones that dealt with with some of the tougher issues for kids, similar to much of the interactive media I’d worked on throughout my career. One series I completely fell in love with was The Baby-Sitters Club (I’m way late to the game, I know), and while some of the books are more lighthearted, many cover issues like racism, divorce, blended families, chronic illness, caring for children with disabilities, loss, and more. I was so impressed with Ann M. Martin's thoughtful, sensitive handling of these topics and it reminded me of what I’ve always loved about creating children’s media — the opportunity to provide kids with meaningful entertainment that helps them understand and cope with the world around them.
Suddenly, I wanted to try it myself.
Meanwhile, while I was falling in love with middle grade fiction and catching the writing bug, I was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the videogame industry and the direction it was headed (at least in the branches I was in — no hate to all the videogame peeps out there doing awesome things!) So much seemed to be about making money as opposed to using creativity to build experiences that would leave people feeling filled up and inspired, which has been my only reason for ever wanting to make anything, and I desperately wanted to get back to that.
Monkey Island said it all...
While still working as a programmer, I began writing in my free time, starting with a picture book manuscript based on one of my favorite childhood memories. And even though I was a total novice, I loved it. After working in the videogame world for so long — where so many tech hurdles must be overcome before you can even get to the storytelling part — it felt amazing to be able to craft entire worlds with just words.
Soon after that, I read Stephen King’s On Writing and fell in love with the way he describes writing as a form of telepathy — a “meeting of the minds” where the author’s vision is transferred across space and time to the reader on the other end, just with words.
How cool is that!? And how had I not realized this amazing medium right in front of me all this time!?
I was becoming obsessed with writing at a rapid rate and did my best to teach myself for about a year and a half, reading lots of books and listening to podcasts and practicing every day. I set out to write a middle-grade novel and kept to my goal of writing 1000 words every single day until it was done. I was proud of myself when I finished, but boy, the writing was terrible! I had the heart and the drive, but I knew I needed formal, technical training if I truly wanted to become a good writer.
I’d been learning a lot from the podcasts put out by the Institute of Children’s Literature, so I looked into their courses and decided to enroll. I was slightly worried that it might be a scam at first, but it turned out to be the opposite of a scam and the best class I’ve ever taken. I’ve been working through the assignments for the past year — each of which is designed to teach you a different skill necessary for children’s writing — and working with a personal writing instructor, which every student is paired with for the duration of the course. Having that relationship has been invaluable, and I’ve seriously learned SO much. It was exactly the type of training I’d been looking for.
So, that’s where I’m at now. I’m about three years into the writing life (oh, and I work at the library now instead of in videogames — yay books!), and I’m still learning tons and trying to get better every day. I’m really, really happy, and I feel like I’ve finally found the creative form that fits me best. I’m not published yet, but I’m working super hard to get there!
Works I've completed so far (I’m only counting the ones I consider polished/close to submission-ready):
- A picture book manuscript
- A middle-grade novel
- Several middle-grade short stories
- A handful of middle-grade nonfiction pieces
- This ridiculously long first blog post (I promise the rest will be shorter)
Thanks for reading, and happy writing! :)
