Show the World What You Can Do

I often get asked, "When did you know you wanted to be a writer?" The truth is, I didn't know what I might do with my life until I met my high school creative writing teacher, a fascinating woman I'll call Ms. Mucous.

Unlike my favorite teachers, Ms. Mucous had a weirdly limited view of imagination. That is, she believed one's imagination should only be used to write stories about sweet and happy things, like puppies and kitties and rainbows. Now, I liked puppies and kitties and rainbows as much as the next girl. But I liked to write about ghosts, mermaids, evil twins and bad boyfriends. Ms. Mucous didn't think these unpleasant things were worthy topics. As a matter of fact, every day she would pick out a story or poem to read to the class, something she thought was particularly good.

She never read anything I wrote.

Ever.

As I sat seething in Ms. Mucous's class, my life's goal popped into my head. I thought: I'm going to keep writing. I'm going to show Ms. Mucous what I can do. I'm going to show the whole world.

It's amazing what motivates a person. For me, it's anger. For you, it could be love or sadness or just the possibility of it all. And that's what stories are: limitless possibilities. Who's in the story? What will happen next? How will it end?

Though stories feel so much like real life, they're also different from life. More dramatic, more magical, more exciting. More exciting than doing that group Powerpoint presentation on the constitution with those three lazy slobs from history class. Or spending a Saturday night babysitting your spoiled brat little brother, watching him blow milk bubbles out of his nose. Or having to skip homecoming because your Great Aunt May insists on taking you to the rubber band museum. Or listening to a stupid teacher blather on about puppies and kitties and rainbows.

What's even better: in the HarperTeen FanLit event, you guys discover the possibilities together.

Here:

• The girl can get the guy (unless she decides she doesn't need him).
  
• The girl can slay the dragon (unless she'd like to keep him).
  
• The girl can banish the witch (unless she'd rather hang out and learn a spell or two).

And the characters don't even have to be girls. They can be boys, cats, camels, fairies, ghosts, gnomes, gremlins, ants, or heiresses. They can live in haunted houses, glass castles, boarding schools, charm schools, or wizard schools. Your story can be set in caves or on mountains, on ships or planes or at the bottom of the ocean.

Your characters can:

• read minds (or)
  
• leap tall buildings (or)
  
• grant three wishes (or)
  
• kiss frogs (or)
  
• solve crimes (or)
  
• talk to trees (or)
  
• talk to the dead (or)
  
• move objects with thoughts (or)
  
• defeat nineteen ninjas armed only with a toothpick (or)
  
• fall madly, passionately in love (or)
  
• all of the above.

Best of all, you can write thinly-disguised versions of your very worst ex-boyfriends or creative writing teachers and then have them run over by runaway rickshaws (or herds of llamas, or angry punk girls on roller skates).

My point is, you can make anything happen. You can show the whole world what you can do.

Take that, Ms. Mucous.

Love & Luck,
Laura Ruby
Author of Good Girls