This will be my very first blog so please be patient with me for it will take me a while to put up a new blog post. So, with that said I guess I will start with how this all began.
I've always had a love for writing, even if my writing didn't make sense at all I continued to polish my styles even to this very day. Plus, because I've grown up surrounded by music it has become my #1 inspiration for my stories. From the traditional classical to soundtracks as well as pop, rock, metal, hip-hop, rap, Celtic, soul and new age. One music group has put me on the edge while I'm writing and that is Two Steps from Hell, if you have not listened to any of their music before I suggest you check them out, the music is awesome!
 |
| Two Steps from Hell |
I mentioned before that I also love soundtracks like Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Transformers (even it the movies are horrible, they still have a kick-ass soundtrack). My #1 soundtrack thought is The Prince of Egypt! I love that movie, and the music is beautiful, if you have not seen the movie go check it out, you will not be disappointed!
More or less, music isn't the only thing that inspires me. As an African American, I'm sure that you can imagine, my childhood had its ups and downs. Especially in school, I've had my share of insults from other kids. I still remember the first time I was picked on about my race it was the year 2005 when I was in fifth grade when five boys called my brother and I chocolate bars. Thinking about that now...yeah that was a weak insult, he compared me to delicious candy that everybody loves. Again not the best insult but that was the first time I was bullied because of my race. At first my friends and family told me to ignore those people and everything will be fine...boy were they wrong!
Eventually the insults became worst and some physical damage was added to the mix. I became the target of two 8th grade boys who called me monkey and loved to throw snowballs mostly consisted of ice and gravel. When my parents found out about the bullying my dad took it to the principle and the boys were suspended and put on garbage duty during recess.
Even though the bullying stopped, I became very wary of everybody around me. So I tried to avoid everybody, even my own friends. Because not only was I picked on because of my race, but whenever I develop a crush and the person I'm crushing on finds out I become an even bigger target for the bullies.
It seemed like there was no ignoring the name calling, so I did what every kid would do when they want to escape the harsh world...watch TV of course! To be more specific, I was watching my favorite show Avatar: The Last Airbender and something about the show inspired me to do a little bit of writing. That's when I discovered how fun and interesting it is to create my own world, characters and creatures. I also discovered that writing was a great way to vent my emotions - mostly because I could kill the people who bullied me in my story than in real life ;)! Mostly, I was connected to my characters through the emotion I held inside.
Then in 2008 my family moved from Zeeland MI to Holland MI and I had to switched to Black River Public School. A new school and that lead to a new me! During my time at Black River I was challenged...BIG TIME with my writing style but I improved little by little until it lead me to my final project in order for me to graduate high school. A five chapter Historical fiction book I named "Black Sun." Looking back at the story today, there are a lot of errors I could have cleaned up, but I treasure those five chapters because that was the first time I've ever shared my work to others.
Now its 2014 and can definitely tell you that I have come a long way as a writer, using negative emotions as the foundation for my writing and building characters. Everything I've gone through has brought me to working on The Zodiac Chronicles, and I cannot wait to finish these books.
Even though the bullying stopped, I became very wary of everybody around me. So I tried to avoid everybody, even my own friends. Because not only was I picked on because of my race, but whenever I develop a crush and the person I'm crushing on finds out I become an even bigger target for the bullies.
 |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender 2006 |
Then in 2008 my family moved from Zeeland MI to Holland MI and I had to switched to Black River Public School. A new school and that lead to a new me! During my time at Black River I was challenged...BIG TIME with my writing style but I improved little by little until it lead me to my final project in order for me to graduate high school. A five chapter Historical fiction book I named "Black Sun." Looking back at the story today, there are a lot of errors I could have cleaned up, but I treasure those five chapters because that was the first time I've ever shared my work to others.
Now its 2014 and can definitely tell you that I have come a long way as a writer, using negative emotions as the foundation for my writing and building characters. Everything I've gone through has brought me to working on The Zodiac Chronicles, and I cannot wait to finish these books.
Wish me luck!
Willette Mitchell
*P.S.: Don't hesitate to ask me questions, I'll answer them in the next post!*
No comments:
Post a Comment