Okay, so there was this one time that I saw this work on YWS and it was SOOOO BAD. Like, literally, all my neurons were firing at the sight and I was afraid that I would go into shock. COULD IT GET THIS MUCH WORSE???
Oh man, I was ready to flame that story alive, and by flame, I don't mean verbally abuse the writer or anything, but nitpick the entire story, rant about how unacceptable the grammar was, how boring the story was, and how it could never ever EVER possibly be published unless, of course, the publisher was a pack of howler monkeys who would simply see the work and print it on banana leaves. It was simply not publishable in any way, shape, or form and if *I* had written it, I would be ashamed to even show it off, let alone get critiques for it. Annoyed, I looked at the age.
The writer was eleven.
Oops.
And yes, I've seen works such as those by writers who were twelve, thirteen... even someone who was seven. And yes, the works were bad, but usually a look at the age would send me into flashback time...
Speaking of which! Now it's time for flashback time! I remember when I was eleven, I was composing such lovely works such as this one. Don't you just love the dialogue? Or perhaps you want an example of short stories, since I do better fiction than plays. Here's such an example!And we can't forget poetry! Just look at this startling poem to get an idea of that.
If, at that developmental time, an older writer told me that I sucked and couldn't write, I wouldn't have even tried progressing in it in any form of writing. IN FACT, what made me write was this story. Oh yes, I know it's complete and utter crap. But my dad said it was good, and that made me feel proud, as if I could do something special -- nay, I was special. It was a great feeling.
Now flash forward two years forward of me being eleven (or six years back from present, if you want to get technical). I was thirteen and I was sure that I was going to be a professional writer. Nay, not only a professional writer but the best writer ever... and I would be published and be the youngest writer ever! And, of course, my novels would be accepted without thought by an adoring public, etc., etc.
What exactly was I writing? Hahaha...
Well, if you're interested in poems, here's one I did.
If you're interested in stories, I have a bunch for you! Here's one that typically summarizes what stuff I wrote and what level it was at. Lovely, isn't it? The plot... the characters... so charming. Oh yeah, I was able to do a couple of good stuff, such as this story, but that was only because I actually edited it based on a simple observation of my sister. She noticed that the middle wasn't up to par to the rest of the stuff, and with a helpful critique, I edited it better.
And YES. I thought I was hot stuff. I was an awesome writer, yada yada. Nobody told me I sucked -- on the contrary, they told me that I was good and gave me some helpful pointers. Or asked questions about my story that made me think.
So yes. I stunk. But I'm better now, due to some helpful criticism.
Please, please, PLEASE, when you give critiques, especially to younger writers, to make it as helpful as you can. No, you don't have to be soppily nice, really. In fact, my best critique of FREAK was when my mom read my first version for FREAK (the thirteen-year-old edition) and instead of saying, "This is the worst thing I ever read" like she was probably thinking, she asked, "Why doesn't the freak commit suicide?" Which was a question that made me think.
Be helpful in your critiques!
Gender:
Points: 3891
Reviews: 3821