There is this thread on the Absolute Write Forums:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237182
And that reminded me of some of my early exploits. One of the earliest stories I can remember writing, was the sequel to a book I read – I don’t quite remember the title, but it was about a bunch of kids that some discover that they are alone on the space ship they were travelling on. No adults in sight, so they had to fend for themselves. I got maybe a page or two of that sequel down. I remember making up a huge number for the distance they traveled and I remember my mom questioning that with something like “You think it is a good idea?”.
What I also remember is that I always had problems with school writing assignments. Some times I even got my mom to write some for me. But this one time I wrote one of my own and promptly aced it and got an A. The topic of the assignment was “When I look out the window” and I clearly remember what I wrote. Across the street from our home was a fruit farm. At the time they had sour cherries there. I just imagined what it would be like, if that was not an orchard, but a forest where we kids could play in, build sheds or tree houses and cause general mayhem. Alas … that wasn’t to happen.
Nowadays I am sending dwarves to interrogate dragons or have people getting questioned by the Singularity – but maybe I should go back to those simpler stories and just look out the window sometimes.
What is your earliest writing? Leave it in the comments.