Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Humble Beginnings

I've been writing since I was in high school and when I look back, it makes me laugh at all the things I've written on.
I'm talking about paper.
Depending on my occupation was the type of paper I used.
As a student, notebook paper was my pallet of choice. Then I became a cashier. During any open time I had between customers was spent taking a little advantage of the receipt tape...or a lot of advantage haha
My next occupation was a CNA, where they had small notepads at hand. 
The different paper that I've collected over the years, come in so many different sizes it makes me laugh.
It would have been cool to keep all of them and bind them into a strange little book. (Of course I think about this after I've destroyed all of them).
Alas, when I got home from work, I would type up what I had written and then threw my scraps away.
For a while, I thought I was the only one to do such a thing. Then I started hearing about other authors, even famous ones who are now some of the richest people in the world.
The other day there was an article about a 60 year old woman who had been trying to get published for over 7 years. She used to write on scraps as well and now she is a New York Times Bestseller.
Just goes to show, it doesn't matter how humble your beginnings, your story can become something great.
Even if I don't become a huge author, I will always have the story to tell where I started out writing long hand on receipt tape.
I've been writing everything out for so long; I'm pretty sure, ever since I started writing. 
There's something almost peaceful about taking your time to word everything correctly and write it all out. Don't get me wrong, the computer is very easy and my fingers can fly over the keys, but I tend to get so lost in the story that I skip words and lose my place.
I think it also helps that I have good penmanship. :)
You can take a piece of paper anywhere. Say you're in line at the grocery store. Instead of loosing yourself in an electronic world, let yourself travel to a world of your own creation where anything could happen.
Let your pen guide you through the amazon or into an epic battle with swashbuckling pirates. Maybe the cashier is actually a spy, waiting to take someone out, for good.
Try it, I dare you. If you've never tried your hand at writing, take a scrap and pen and try it. There's no harm in that. You may just surprise yourself.
Who knows, maybe you're the next J.K.Rowling, who by the way, wrote on napkins at her waitress job!
Does anyone else have strange things that they write on? If so, comment below, I'd love to hear about it. :)