Yes, I do still write, but my past life is the writing I did as a kid. I liked writing. We lived in Wisconsin when I was in elementary school and my 6th grade class always listened to "Let's Write" on the Wisconsin School of the Air on the classroom radio. Thinking of that now, I guess you could say the Wisconsin School of the Air was the precursor of online learning. [We also had Let's Sing, where we sang along to whatever was on the show that week.]
I actually don't remember what I wrote in response to that show, but I do remember two stories I wrote in 6th grade. I remember them because of my teacher's response to them. One of them was a pretty funny fantasy, though I have forgotten the details. The other was a story about a girl character saving up money to buy a fishing rod. It was a very straight forward, fill-in-the-blanks stock story. I had read stories like that and so I wrote one. I HATED it, so of course that was the story my teacher asked me to read in front of the class.
I couldn't say no, so what I did was read as fast as possible and also mumble. After I finished my speed-read, my fellow students all went, "What??" as I slunk back to my seat.
My teacher never asked me to read again.
Happy ending- that didn't stop me from writing what I wanted to write. After 6th grade, my family moved to Connecticut and I made new friends. I wrote a very silly story about my new group of friends, which they loved. I wrote a play set in ancient Greece or Rome, I can't remember which. That was in response to my World History class in high school.
Good and bad, these experiences helped me be a better writing teacher.
And as you see, I still write today!
This made me smile for a couple of reasons. First, why is it that others decide what we read to the class instead of asking us what we would like to share? Second, when I was in sixth grade my teacher chose something I wrote to share with the lass. Lucky for me, she read it instead of having me read it.
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