Throwback writing. People have their throwbacks to everything, reminiscing over bygone days. Days when everything seemed simpler, more innocent. Some like to present throwbacks to fashion, hairstyles, music. What I haven’t seen much of is authors presenting the first story they ever wrote.
Do you as readers ever wonder about that? Most authors say their first novel should be buried or burned. Personally, I’d like nothing better than to see some of the first prose by Anne Rice or Stephen King. Or basically any author who’s willing to share.
I think Mary Rowen Horgan, a fellow author, feels the same way. One day she came across some of her old poetry and read it again with adult eyes. Some of the writing she laughed, some she still nodded at the sentiment. It was the time travel backward, a moment in her personal history when she was trying to find herself, trying to express herself in the most creative words she knew how. Her first writings displayed her passions or her gripes. No matter how strong or weak, the paper held her words for all posterity. As long as the paper lasted. And the papers lasted.
A catalyst to a new idea, she created “Throwback Writing,” a category she has now included in her blog, and a place where authors can submit some of their very first attempts at writing, whether it be poetry, an essay, or a short story. I scrounged a little deeper in my closets and lo and behold, I found all of my creative writing assignments I wrote back in 1980. These assignments were short stories, poems in all styles, and even a play. At that time, I was only trying to fulfill an English credit, and I loved the class and the people in it. Little did I ever suspect I’d be writing novels. That was not a task I thought I could complete, no matter how many classes I took. I think now how different a creative writing class in high school might be. Would a class perhaps create an anthology and put it up on Amazon? Would the teacher go through a syllabus and tackle exactly how to craft a story?
I’ll personally never know, but I did want to share one of my stories on Mary’s blog. Click on the link below and enjoy some throwback writing.
If any of you wish to share some of your writing with me, and would like for me to create a post featuring your work, don’t hesitate to contact me. Happy reading, and never forget where you came from.
