We’re always thrilled to find conversations on the internet which invoke happiness or better yet, feelings of nostalgia. Which is probably why we have to talk about this wonderful Twitter thread by James Alexander, a TV writer for Disney.
Alexander kicked off the thread by talking about what made him choose writing as a career and then proceeded to ask others what their ‘origin story’ was, as a writer.
I feel like every writer has their own “origin story” where, looking back at your past, it makes 10000% sense that you’re now a writer/storyteller.
— James Alexander👨🏾💻 (@ScriptsByJames) March 1, 2022
Mine? I used to write my own Scooby Doo “episodes” as a kid lol.
Anyone else?
He also pointed out how kids who get excited about writing during school are probably all set to become writers when they grow up.
Oh, and shout out to everyone who wrote fanfic before fanfic was a thing!
— James Alexander👨🏾💻 (@ScriptsByJames) March 2, 2022
And what followed, was a flood of comments by people who opened up and revealed their writers’ origin story. And boy, if you’re a writer too, you’ll find these stories relatable AF! It’s so fascinating that most people began writing and imagining stories as young as 7 years old.
So many people in this thread have said that they started creating spin-off plotlines, or alternative storylines of the shows and comics they consumed as children. And TBH, it’s so, so wildly familiar!
In elementary school I used to tell friends what I did over the weekend. What would start off as a boring story would slowly add in sci fi/fantasy elements that they couldn't stop listening to. To this day they still bring up the stories I would tell!
— Amir Habbas (@amir_habbas) March 1, 2022
I created a baby sitter’s club book for class 😂 I also created a storyline for a show and over the years truly believed it really happened then I watched years later and realized it actually didn’t!
— Joretta ✍🏾 (@lizziemcwriter) March 1, 2022
I wrote and drew my own comics as a kid, which were all thinly-veiled rip-offs of whatever I was reading. In college, I realized I didn’t have the patience/discipline to be an artist and that what I REALLY liked was writing the stories. Switched majors to English and here we are.
— Jay Faerber (@JayFaerber) March 1, 2022
We were talking about career paths in high school & I told my teacher I wanted to write novels. she told me that I should be more realistic. Then it came time to write a story and after reading she took a complete 180. She loved it. After high school I discovered screenwriting.
— Jahvar McLean (@jahvarm1) March 1, 2022
This one here, is a classic example of how having good imagination is a sign you’re highly creative!
My granny would hog the only tv in the house day and night and I wasn’t allowed to have my own tv so I could watch cartoons. With no computer or internet, I had to write and draw my entertainment. And that’s why I write and draw til this day, it feels necessary. pic.twitter.com/6sXZUv5Rpf
— Meet The Writer (@_RoniBrown) March 2, 2022
my kindergarten boyfriend, his twin brother, and his sisters and I wrote a whole play about Sonic the Hedgehog where I was Tails and we were like, six, so that explains literally EVERYTHING about me
— kylie sparks🖤🥂⚾️🏀 (@kyliesparks) March 1, 2022
If you think about it, this is almost close to genius. I mean creating dialogues mentally! Brilliant.
I used to do the same thing!!! Except I used to call it “talking about cartoons”, and my stories involved my favorite characters from my favorite movies, TV shows and books. Everyone outside of my immediate family thought I was crazy lol
— Life of Ko (@kokothadreamer) March 2, 2022
I hand-wrote a sequel to JURASSIC PARK at age 7 without having seen it. All I knew about it was taken from a brief kids' book with stills from the movie
— Jake Disch (@jake_disch) March 1, 2022
When I was a kid, my dad would tell us stories to get us to sleep, he would tell Poe stories, Conan-Doyle, make up new stories on the spot. He also kept a diary – he had a bookshelf where he kept all of his tiny composition books. I thought I’d be an artist, should have known. <3
— #notjustmom/IStandWithUkraine/YallMeansALL (@kedss46) March 2, 2022
Amongst my friends I’d always see newly released movies first. When I described their plot I’d lie and make up alt versions. Turned Deliverance into a comedy. Chinatown a rom com. Mash a slasher film. Loved their reaction after seeing it for themselves. A writer was born.
— Mrkatman (@Mrkatman) March 2, 2022
I got into writing because I realized I used to love writing extremely long answers where it was clearly unrequired. And not to get all deep and profound, but I also realized that I’ve always enjoyed observing tiny details about everyday situations and then shedding light on them so that they live on forever in people’s minds.
