Monday, February 13, 2012

My Origins Story


When I was little, I loved being read to. My parents read me all kinds of tales, from beginning readers to fairy tales to nursery rhymes. One day, when I was three or four, I decided I would write a story of my own! (And when I say "my own," I meant I decided to re-tell one of my favourite stories.) I took one of the little square pieces of paper from the pad by the phone, and laboriously wrote down what I remembered of the tale, titling the story "The Frog Prince."

When I was done, filled with satisfaction at the product of my hard work, I ran to my mom to proudly show her the first story I had ever written. You can imagine my mortification when she took the piece of paper and her smile turned into a frown of anger and surprise.

"Allison! Where did you learn that word?" she asked me.

I leaned forward, tears coming to my eyes. What had I done wrong?

"What wowd, Mommy?"

"That one!" She pointed at the title.

"It's 'The Fog Pince,' Mummy, you know... the stowy whewre the fog tuwrns into a pince!"

"Ohh. I see." And she smiled with relief, told me what a good job I had done, and proceeded to ask me what exactly the story said and wrote out a translation of it before we put it away.

I found this story in a box of old things a few years ago, and laughed at the horrible spelling. I would have had no idea what any of it said if my mom hadn't included her translation with it. The title read, "Te Fog Pis." She had thought I had learned a "bad word," and that's why she had been angry at first.

So there you have it, the origins of my writing story; misunderstood right from the start!


This post is part of the Origins Blogfest, hosted by DL (Crusing Altitude 2.0), Katie (Creepy Query Girl), Matthew (Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment), and Alex J. Cavanaugh. Click on the link to check out the others participating and read how their writing dreams got started!

55 comments:

  1. Oh, that's awesome. Thank you so much for sharing this story. It made me smile. Loved it.

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed my story. I had fun trying to remember how it happened, too.

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  2. That is so cute! It's great that you can remember that moment, and you still have the source of the memory. Thank you for sharing your ORIGIN with us today! :)

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    1. I probably wouldn't have remembered if I hadn't kept that piece of paper. Thanks for hosting this great blogest!

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  3. Thats hilarious! My parents used to tell people I was saying "Truck" all the time when I walked around saying a word that sounds a lot like Truck. I think they would have been happy with "Te Fog Pis" Its cool she saved it.

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  4. HA! I was laughing so hard at this! Yes, those early mistakes help us in our future writing endeavours! Nice to meet you via the blogfest!

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    1. Thank you! Nothing better than hearing you made someone laugh :) Nice to meet you, too.

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  5. "Te Fog Pis" - misunderstood from the start! - that's hilarious! This is officially the funniest origin I've read so far, I'm just bummed you didn't keep going and tell us more!

    new follower - and my post is at how my writing dream began

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    1. Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I prefer to keep my blog posts shorter than longer, as I know people are busy, and there were so many entries in this blogfest for people to wander through too.

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  6. This is, indeed, a funny start to a life of misunderstood, Allison!

    Glad to *meet* you, here at the Fest!

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    1. It is nice to meet you, too. I am enjoying discovering the vast branches of other writers in the blogosphere!

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  7. Hi Aliison!

    I'm dropping by from the origins blogfest. I love how your mom misunderstood your title, then quickly caught herself. :) What a cute origins story-and a funny one at that!

    Your newest follower,
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  8. Oh, that's funny! My little girl recently wrote a song that said love sins, (sings.) I find it's always best to have her read it to me. :)

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  9. Adorable. And how lucky you were to have parents who read to you. Mine never did. Kind of a shame, really. Thanks for your origins story.

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    1. That is a shame! I am very glad my parents started me on reading, though I don't think they realized how much I would love it and how I'd later seclude myself for hours a day with a good book...

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  10. Great story - and thanks for tipping me off as to the blogfest. Signed up and posted this afternoon. :)

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    1. Oh good, I'm glad you joined in! I enjoyed reading other people's stories.

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  11. That's funny! Hey, she should've known what you meant.
    Thanks for participating in the blogfest.

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    1. Yes, moms are supposed to be able to read our minds, right! Thanks for hosting it.

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  12. This was so cute and funny! What a great story!

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  13. Ah, the original spellcheck - Mom. :-) nice little tale, nice to meet you via the blogfest.

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    1. haha yeah, she still checks my writing for grammar errors for me sometimes. Nice to meet you too.

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  14. Was it the Muppets version of the Te Fog Pis? Oh, that was probably my first ever favorite movie! How adorable that you were driven to write it all down....er, sort of write it all down. ;) Very cool that your mom kept it.

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    1. I love the Muppets! I haven't seen their version of that, though.

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  15. lol. Sounds like something my daughter would do, only there were times when SHE couldn't recall what it said. ^_^

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    1. Yeah, I am glad my mom wrote it down, because I doubt I would have remembered later.

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  16. Thanks for posting on my Origins post! I loved yours-- very funny. ;)

    -The Dandy Lioness

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  17. That is a great story. I'm so impressed with those of you who started so early. Nice to know your origins.

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    1. I credit my parents for that--for reading to me often and teaching me to read and write before kindergarten!

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  18. That is hilarious. At least you got off to a great start with your writing. Thanks for stopping by my blog! Nice to meet you!

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    1. haha I suppose plagiarizing is acceptable at age 4 ;) It is nice to meet you too.

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  19. This was a fun origins story. Are you enjoying NINE PRINCES IN AMBER? Roger Zelazny was one of my writing inspirations. His "ghost" also writes 3 chapters in my Kindle book, GHOST WRITERS IN THE SKY, where the ghosts of famous writers teach us how to write better! Even the ghosts of Bruce Lee and Alfred Hitchcock get into the act.

    I truly loved Zelazny's ROAD SIGNS (even have a signed copy of it) Roland

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    1. Nine Princes in Amber is one of my all time favourite books! I am actually re-reading it. Zelazny is also a huge inspiration for me, though I have never heard of Road Signs!

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  20. Hilarious and so sweet! Excellent "origins" tale and an enjoyable read. Thanks, Allison! Oh, and geeks RULE! :)

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    1. I think geeks are pretty awesome, myself ;) Thanks for dropping by!

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  21. What a funny story. At least it wasnt one of the seven words that could not be said on television, lol. I am a new follower from the blogfest.

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  22. Just beautiful.....out of the mouths of babes. From what I can gather, many (most) of the really creative and inspirational artists have been misunderstood. It would appear to be a 'right of passage' to greatness....so, hold on to your hat!!

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    1. haha thanks for those words of inspiration. Unfortunately, sometimes clarity is necessary.

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  23. That is a great story. Start young, right? New follower :)

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    1. Thanks! Reading and writing at a young age was certainly good for my imagination.

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  24. Cute story. You caught the bug pretty early.

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    1. It's true. I actually found kindergarten boring because I already knew how to read and write (though apparently I couldn't spell)!

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  25. That is an AWESOME story!! Your mom was a doll to translate it and save it for posterity! :)

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  26. Great story! It made me laugh. You just got yourself a new follower!

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    1. Thanks! And might I say what a smashing choice you made for a profile picture ;)

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    2. I was just about to say the same to you. Vivi is my all time favorite character.

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    3. I like him a lot too... FFIX is one of my favourite video games.

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  27. Hilarious story! And, you started so young!

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  28. Your mum was a gem! I love how you've kept your stories as well.

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