She called me a writer
(And by the way, I've guest posted for RM Lutz @ The Book Hound. Make sure you check it out (and check out the rest of her blog while you're there, because she's awesome and stuff.))
I've written three scripts for a kids show for the local radio station. They were about 1000 words each and followed the adventures of two kids at the Bubble Factory. They each took me about an hour to write, and I didn't get paid for them. It was a fun thing to do, and writing for little kids while not boring the adults was definitely a new experience for me.
Today I was invited to come and watch the scripts being recorded. (They weren't recording my scripts, but two that the radio station had previously written.) I stood in the doorway with the parents and older siblings of the second grade actors, watching as the kids said their lines the best they could. (The girl was really shy and quiet, and the boy had a smile wider than the Death Star. He made me smile back.)
The lady who was running the show paused for a moment to introduce me. "That lady in blue is the writer who did the third, fourth and fifth scripts." I smiled shyly then went back to watching as the lady played the episode back to us. Disembodied voices floated over the room, crystal clear. I envied their microphones. (In high school I was part of the sound and tech crew who ran assemblies and talent quest evenings. Microphones that recorded a clear sound and hadn't been previously smashed were rarer than Darth Vader helping at the local animal shelter.)
It was only later that I realised that a) she had called me a lady and b) she had called me a writer. I don't really think of myself as a lady but more as a girl, because after all I'm only seventeen and ladies are at least twenty. There's a big difference between seventeen and twenty, although I'm sure that when I am twenty I'll still be calling myself a girl and not a lady. For someone else to call me a lady was odd, to say the least.
The other thing was that she called me a writer. I call myself a writer. (It's one of my firm beliefs that if you write, you're a writer. The end.) But to have someone else recognise me as a writer? That was new. Usually it was, "oh, she writes books" or "yeah, she likes to write" or even "she wants to become an author" but never "yeah, she's a writer."
So yeah, I'm that writer lady.
Do you ever have trouble calling yourself a writer? Do you ever have trouble accepting the fact that you're growing up? Have you ever written for kids before?
I've written three scripts for a kids show for the local radio station. They were about 1000 words each and followed the adventures of two kids at the Bubble Factory. They each took me about an hour to write, and I didn't get paid for them. It was a fun thing to do, and writing for little kids while not boring the adults was definitely a new experience for me.
Today I was invited to come and watch the scripts being recorded. (They weren't recording my scripts, but two that the radio station had previously written.) I stood in the doorway with the parents and older siblings of the second grade actors, watching as the kids said their lines the best they could. (The girl was really shy and quiet, and the boy had a smile wider than the Death Star. He made me smile back.)
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| Desert in Dubai. (Once again, a picture that has nothing to do with the post. Deal with it.) |
The lady who was running the show paused for a moment to introduce me. "That lady in blue is the writer who did the third, fourth and fifth scripts." I smiled shyly then went back to watching as the lady played the episode back to us. Disembodied voices floated over the room, crystal clear. I envied their microphones. (In high school I was part of the sound and tech crew who ran assemblies and talent quest evenings. Microphones that recorded a clear sound and hadn't been previously smashed were rarer than Darth Vader helping at the local animal shelter.)
It was only later that I realised that a) she had called me a lady and b) she had called me a writer. I don't really think of myself as a lady but more as a girl, because after all I'm only seventeen and ladies are at least twenty. There's a big difference between seventeen and twenty, although I'm sure that when I am twenty I'll still be calling myself a girl and not a lady. For someone else to call me a lady was odd, to say the least.
The other thing was that she called me a writer. I call myself a writer. (It's one of my firm beliefs that if you write, you're a writer. The end.) But to have someone else recognise me as a writer? That was new. Usually it was, "oh, she writes books" or "yeah, she likes to write" or even "she wants to become an author" but never "yeah, she's a writer."
So yeah, I'm that writer lady.
Do you ever have trouble calling yourself a writer? Do you ever have trouble accepting the fact that you're growing up? Have you ever written for kids before?
That sounds like such a fun project!
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time calling myself a writer. I typically say something along the lines of, "I write for fun". And saying that I blog is really weird, even a year later.
Yeah, I had a lot of fun with it :)
DeleteYou are a writer, RM! Own it! You are awesome and fantastic and talented and deserve to be called a writer and a blogger!!
That is so amazing!!!! Good work :)
ReplyDeleteHa, thanks :) And you're awesome too :) Thanks for commenting, Rainbow Magic Fairy!!!
DeleteGood on you, writer lady! It sounds like you would have had fun with those scripts! No, I've never written anything for kids before. I think it would be fun, but also kind of hard. I don't know.. did you find it hard, compared to what you otherwise write?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how hearing someone say something makes it so much more real?! Also, I'm not entirely convinced about twenty being the age of being a lady, because the closer I get to it, the more I feel like just a girl...
*bows* They were pretty fun to write. It was harder for me to write over my regular stuff, I think, but maybe just because I've never really done it before? It was for a different audience with a different format, so it was a bit difficult.
DeleteIt really did make it more real for me. Yeah, I'm sure once I'm 20 I'll still think of myself as a girl. And when I'm 65 I'll maybe be an adult. Maybe :)
Love this story! It must be fun writing for kids and then seeing how they record things for the radio. That's really awesome that she called you a writer too!
ReplyDeleteI think of myself as a writer. But, yeah, most people are just like, "You write?" while their face is saying, "What's wrong with you? Don't you know that writing isn't supposed to be fun?" Then there are those rare weird people who actually want you to put them in your book. . . But people just tend to shrug it off or think I'm crazy.
I'm 24 (yes, I'm ancient XD), but I still think of myself as a girl. Actually, in my head I call most people including myself "kid". The other day, I was telling my mom about someone at work who was about her age and accidentally called him a kid.
Yeah, it was a pretty cool experience :)
DeleteOh, I've gotten that face :( One of the things I hate is when people say, "Oh, you're a writer? I have this idea X, you should totally write it!" Like yeah, no. Sorry dude. WE ARE NOT CRAZY, ASHLEY. WE SHALL ENDURE.
Goodness, you are ancient. Should I call the ambulance if you ever fall down? 911, a senior citizen has fallen! She has possibly broken a hip! ;) Ha, that's pretty good!
YAY!! I'm glad I made you smile!!! Oh, that's awesome. It's the coolest feeling, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Emily!
YOU'RE 17? I thought you were at least 19...
ReplyDeleteAnd it's pretty cool that you got called a writer. In my Primary school, I was known as a writer kid. (They thought I was weird but meh).
I do have trouble accepting the fact that I'm growing up. When I turned 17 I was like, "I'm going to be a legal adult when I'm 18 which is next year noooo."
Can't I just stay 17 like, forever? I'm allowed to get married legally in Scotland ( I can just move there) and I can get my driver's licence and I can live by myself. It's all good....
I am. Well, I am totally mature for my age and everything. (*trips on thin air then says something stupid*)
DeleteThat's so cool! Being a writer kid is cool. They grow up to be actual writers and then who has the last laugh then?
Being an adult is scary, isn't it? We should just go to Neverland or something. Then we can be kids forever and no one will tell us anything different. Or move to Scotland. That sounds like a good plan too :)