When did you start writing?

A bit in high school (1973-77) but more in college (Virginia Military Institute 1977 - 1981). Most of these were assignments.

Dan Gallagher

When did you start writing?

My first book was technical "A Practical Guide to Alterations and Extension published in 1995. by Spon

Andrew R Williams

When did you start writing?

After several years of poetry writing that started in high school, while in college my creative writing transformed into writing song lyrics.

Keith Steinbaum

When did you start writing?

I wrote my first novel, "The Last Noah", comparatively late in life. I was sixty years old; writing it fulfilled something that I'd been longing to do for quite a few years beforehand.

David Cuff

When did you start writing?

Two days after my daughter Queena’s 18th birthday on April 24, 2008, she was viciously attacked by a teenage boy and left for dead outside the Bloomingdale Library in Valrico, FL. Queena, who was a high school senior at the time with a future full of promise, suffered severe brain damage. She was put into a medical coma in an attempt to save brain function, but woke up unable to walk, see, or speak.

Once when we arrived at the hospital and found out the extent of her injuries, that’s where the journey began.

Vanna Nguyen

When did you start writing?

I use to dabble in fanfiction back in High School but stopped writing after I had kids since they sucked up my time when they were younger. 

A.R. Kingston

When did you start writing?

I've always written something—poems, stories, plays. But I started writing novels three years ago with my first book Someone To Kiss My Scars, followed by Some Laneys Died. My newest book will release May 24 and is called Crystal's House of Queers.

Brooke Skipstone

When did you start writing?

My first short story was written in the third grade. I first published while attending college.

Robert Paul Blumenstein

When did you start writing?

I started writing in middle school, many, many years ago.

Jeffrey Hough

When did you start writing?

According to my parents, I've been telling stories my entire life. My first proper go at writing a book came in 2005, as a means of escapism when I was in Iraq...

James Mace

When did you start writing?

I think I've always enjoyed the process of writing.  There are times when I crave just picking up a pen and writing.  I don't have opportunities to write with a pen nearly as much as I'd like to...

Irial O'Farrell

When did you start writing?

I used to write when I was ten or eleven years old and I only started writing again in November last year

K.A. Mulenga

When did you start writing?

After starting my Life coaching business, I had taken headshots and showed them to my best friend who responded, "I see this on the cover of a book". With no aspirations to be a writer, I said, "ok, I'm writing a book". And thus, I began writing my first book, "My Dog is More Enlightened Than I Am". 

Maureen Scanlon

When did you start writing?

When I was 5 years old. I wrote sweet little romance books for my grandmother. My mom would make me little blank books out of notebook paper that I would fill in.

Julie Bawden-Davis

When did you start writing?

I started writing short stories in the 1980s and novels in the early 1990s.

William Graney

When did you start writing?

I was always creative, but my first memorable writing moment was in the 5th grade when I entered a schoolwide writing contest. I worked for days with the promise of one day being published. When my story was complete at 25 typed pages, I gleefully handed it in to my librarian...

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When did you start writing?

As a youngster, writing was always my favorite subject in school. Writing was always a passion of mine but life got in the way. Now that I am retired, I can pursue my passion full time.

Vali Benson

When did you start writing?

The first time I remember writing is in High School.  I was doing the assignments but not to spec.  I was always doing something different than what they asked for.  I half-heartedly wrote for a long time before actually sitting down to write in 2017, which resulted in my first book.

Stephen E. J. Tomporowski

When did you start writing?

I didn't take it seriously until I got ready to retire from the Army about 10 yrs ago. Before that it was a book here and there, but work and war keep me busy. When my time in uniform wound down I started thinking of how to make a real go at it. 

Christian Warren Freed

When did you start writing?

I published my first novel in 2016 but have always written stories and journals, and also blogged for businesses.

Renee Regent

When did you start writing?

I started writing fiction in December 2012, aged sixty-seven.

Ted Tayler

When did you start writing?

Thank you for having me by the way!  (laughs)  Oh I'm not totally sure when the writing bug bit me.  Probably in junior high school... maybe?  I was really into comics in my early teens, and I think those books prompted me to start crafting my own stories.  I wanted to do my own comics, you know?  So then I'd imagine where the books would go after they ended and draw that out on paper.

Brandon Keaton

When did you start writing?

I actually started writing before I could write. My mom showed me pages from her old bibliofile notebook where I drew squiggles and told her it was a story. Then had her translate the story underneath. Needless to say, I was often considered a bratty child, but I held the title with honor.

E. N. Crane

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was 13. I had always been a huge reader, and I had recently gotten into Stephen King. I read his novella 'The Body' (aka STAND BY ME) and was enthralled by it. I finally tried my hand at a short story in a similar vein; it wasn't very good but the experience was enough to make me want to write again, and get better.

Eric Nierstedt

When did you start writing?

I wanted to write as soon as I learned how to. I wasn't any good but scribbled away from the time I was seven or eight onward. I got readable about the time I graduated college.

C. T. Phipps

When did you start writing?

Even though I struggled with English due to a childhood illness I have always been a storyteller.  Though it has only been in the last two years I have become serious about my writing to the point where I literally write every day.    

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When did you start writing?

I've been writing poems and short stories since I was in second grade. I've also kept journals and diaries on and off throughout my life. Writing has always been what I've used to express myself in one way or another. But I really began thinking of myself as an author and a writer about ten years ago. I took a few courses on writing for children and adults and I discovered that I could find time each day to write. After that, I committed myself to write a little bit every day and I've set goals for myself to complete different writing tasks. Now writing is a natural part of my day and life.

Krissy Baccaro

What makes writing your passion?

My English Literature teacher in grade 12, Ms. Burgess, had an in depth knowledge about John Keats. I remember her explaining the final line in 'Ode to a Grecian Urn' to me because I was studying that poem: 

                "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

                Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

Those lines struck me, and I suppose, I was a romantic at heart, have always been, and since I've studied that poem with other writer friends and discovered that it was in the process of writing that poem that Keats discovered five universal truths about humanity and its needs: deep affection, community, self-worth, creativity and acceptance, beauty, and a sense of meaning or overview of life. Thus, I strive for writing that increases the value of humankind. This is my passion.

Frank Wayne

When did you start writing?

Five years ago, I wrote my first book "Der kleine Modelguide" the German version of Keep Smiling.

Tiana Pongs

When did you start writing?

I started writing in 2017 when I began my debut novel, Hy Brasil: Island of Eternity.

This went on to take a First Place in the 2019 Pencraft Awards.

Since then, I've published two further novels, Crabb and Carnivore.

I've also composed several volumes of short stories and poetry, including Poems & Short Stories, Volumes 1 and 2, The Book of Mostly Gibberish (With Some Good Stuff Too) and Words of a Feather.

Robert E. Kearns

When did you start writing?

I empty nested unexpectedly when my 15 year old left home early to move to Boston to play Hockey. With all my free time and anxiety I started an expressive arts project. When I stopped writing 7 years later I had a series of 8 stories about the excitement of the individuation process from my children's point of view.

Rae Elliott Williams

When did you start writing?

I have written all my life, mostly poetry but for several years I wrote for a very successful football fanzine.  I would always write books and make up characters for my son and read them to him when he went to bed. Now he is 9, this pleasure has gone as he far too cool for Dad's ramblings!

David E. Miles

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was in elementary school. I used to love writing stories and wanted to write I book when I grew up.  I didn't write much when I entered my teen years and eventually stopped writing once I reached adulthood.  However, that changed in late 2013 when I was inspired to write a reincarnation romance.

Laura Simmons

When did you start writing?

I started writing at a fairly young age. I have several memories that give a timeline of my early writing efforts. One is when I was in the fourth grade. The teacher had us write a short story. I recall she was impressed with mine and had me go to the front of the class and read it aloud. 

The second memory is a story I wrote around the age of ten or maybe eleven. I don’t recall this story as well as the other, but my mother says she still has it and tells me from time to time how good it is. I suspect much of that is just a mother talking. But those are two instances that give an indication of my age and first attempts at writing something of substance. 

Oliver Phipps

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was about twelve years old.  I started with a journal, then later to write poetry.  I continued to write testing my abilities with children's stories.

Ramona Vargas Castillo

What makes writing your passion?

I also love reading so it flows that I'd be passionate about writing as well. 

Dr. S. K. Grunin

When did you start writing?

I began writing stories when I was about seven years old. In college, I became an English major to study great authors and then began to write poetry. About 15 years ago, I started working on my first fiction manuscript.

Adele Royce

When did you start writing?

I have always loved to write. I started playing with writing as a teenager and I was first published in 1992 newspapers using a typewriter and snail mail. I took a break for several years before returning to college to learn how to publish online which I have been doing ever since.

Amber Higgins

When did you start writing?

I started writing after 9/11, it was November of that year and my brother finally opened up about his tour in Vietnam on the long rides to our hunting cabin. I would go home and take notes, over time I had a story and it needed to be told.

Robert J Saniscalchi

When did you start writing?

I started writing back in 2018 as a way to deal with alot of things that were happening in my life. 

JD Penley

When did you start writing?

I've been writing for decades--magazine articles, newsletters, books, and blogs. I started writing when I moved to the mountains of N.C.

Lynda McDaniel

When did you start writing?

When I was a child.

Selina Stambi

When did you start writing?

I've written for a long time. I believed I was a writer in the early 2000s. 

Annette Bower

When did you start writing?

3 years ago

Sadiyyah

When did you start writing?

I have read countless paperback books in the Science Fiction, Adventure and Paranormal genres. I always found myself thinking I could have made a story a little different and maybe more exciting or plausible...

Sam B Miller II

When did you start writing?

I started writing fairly early, with short stories when I was 8 or 9.

Blue Spruell

When did you start writing?

Writing is a way of expression. It helps me make sense of the world. A multitude of thoughts run through my mind and that is the only way to taper it down...

Peter Gray

When did you start writing?

I started writing in 2012. I had just resigned from working for an abusive boss and I decided to write drawing on my personal experiences and emotions. 

Melissa Bell

When did you start writing?

Back in 2019.  I wrote a non-fiction book in Spanish, called "El bien hacer"-something like "Doing right" about some thoughts, reflections, and experiences of life.  It was not translated into English yet.

Esteban Corio

When did you start writing?

I kept a journal while in the military.  Someone got a glimpse at a few of my entries and he said it read like "nutritional information" in a K-Ration. I decided to dress up my following entry. Jimmy Carter was president then. One paragraph led to another... and here we are.

Shem Shmentov

When did you start writing?

I think I've been writing all my life. I'm dyslexic so when I was a child it was a way to hide my thoughts because no one could read what I wrote. Writing was kind of a game actually.

Lexy Duck

When did you start writing?

Even as a child, I wrote "novels" (mostly never finished) just for fun, but as an adult, academic writing sort of took over my bandwidth.

N. L. Holmes

When did you start writing?

I began writing eleven years ago on a whim. 

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When did you start writing?

I have always enjoyed writing and thinking up stories, but I didn't put them down on paper at first. My writing started with my own diary. I had been writing so many stories in it that I thought I would publish it, but then I got too shy and realised I had to change it to Fantasy and that's how it all kicked off.

T. M. Caruana

When did you start writing?

I was a weird kid, I used to hand write newsletters for the family.

Matthew C. Woodruff

When did you start writing?

I hadn’t written a story, other than what we used to have to do in grade school, until about 10 years ago. At that time, several things happened: 

i) The kids were a little bigger, I found I had a little more time, and I started to read grown-up books again, using my imagination in a way I hadn’t in ...

Heather Lynn

When did you start writing?

I started writing very short stories as a young teenager. I think I just had an overactive imagination and needed an outlet. I sold a short story to DC Comics when I was fifteen.

James E. Sanford, Jr

When did you start writing?

I started writing as a kid, I was introduced to writing creative stories and writing rap lyrics around the age of nine or ten years old. So I've been writing my whole life. 

S. L. Jackson

When did you start writing?

Writing for me started out of necessity.  I was past of a helicopter rescue unit in the USAF and after a rescue we would have to file a report.  I found myself very detailed and actually enjoyed the process.  I first attempted a fiction book while stationed in Iraq for a year.  There I took a Disney TV show I enjoyed as a child Gummi Bears and whole a novel about their origins.  It was fun and I still have the draft.

Brent Golembiewski