Where it all began.
Hey all! Just 88 days until launch date, and I’m so excited. I’ve been working away on formatting my book and learning SO much about barcodes. (Please don’t quiz me.)
Anyway, in my efforts to stay young, hip, and involved with the social media, I’ve looked up some popular hashtags for content ideas. A lot of them brought up things I never put much thought into until now. That means we get to learn about me together. Hooray.
Circa 2006, my family decided it was time to upgrade the ole family PC with Windows XP for something sleeker. Something more technologically advanced, like Windows Vista.
There was nothing wrong with the ole boxy pc, just outdated and now taking up too much room. So, it was rehomed to my room.
Thirteen-year-old me thought having a computer in my room was the peak of my existence, even without any access to the internet. This meant unlimited access to Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Paint, and Microsoft Word. The world was at my fingertips, unplugged and self-curated.
For the first few months, I wrote emails to myself pretending to be a successful business woman emailing a friend from her hometown.
“Hello Janelle, just keeping busy. You know, business, business, business. Emails, paperwork, meetings!”
Once the email conversations got stagnant and predictable, I switched gears. I probably spent 4 or 5 months committed to being a master digital artist using only my mouse and willpower. It made for a lot of square-jawed characters, but those lines were crisp.
Eventually, my digital art dream died and I opened a blank Word document. I'd like to say the rest is history, but in reality, it was me trying to write something and then scrapping it completely because I couldn't find my voice.
When I did manage to find it, I took off. With encouragement, I was writing poems about snakes, werewolves, and skeletons. Poems turned into short stories. Short stories into chapters. Chapters formed together become very rough books.
And over time, the ole pc turned into mini notebooks carried in my pockets. Frantic typing in secret Word documents in class when I should have been doing homework. And eventually, laptops and Google docs, once free Microsoft Word went away.
This is how I started writing.
The why I started writing is a little less clear to me. There was always a thought in my head repeating on a loop. Call it obsessive or a hyper-fixation. But the idea, the character, the line of dialogue just stayed in my head playing over and over until I got it out. I just learned to stitch the ideas together to create some sort of Frankenstein story and then, then the rest was history.
So, outdated technology + an obsessive mind = my love of writing. Look Nation! Word math!
A well-loved tool for 13-year-old me.
You know, because I had so many important files to save and share.
