Thanks #26: Amanda Fischer

Dear Mrs. Morrill,

I just want to say thank you for all the time and effort you put into Go Teen Writers for all of us. I've been reading Go Teen Writers since around July 2012, and since then my writing has improved drastically in my and others' opinions. Whenever someone asks for a great writing resource, GTW is the first that comes to mind. 

You and Mrs. Williamson and everyone else who's posted there have taught me so much that I've already had the chance to apply and so much that I'm storing up for the future if I do decide to pursue publication. When I was overwhelmed with a first draft I had no idea what to do with, yours posts gave me a place to start. You're so encouraging, and so are your stories. I probably never would've read them if it hadn't been for GTW! 

Besides teaching me about things like section breaks and action beats and the world publishing industry, I've met so many wonderful writers through the blog. I met both of my wonderful beta readers/critiquers at GTW and joined the critique group Anne-Girl started during the writing retreat. 

The writing projects I'd consider "books" are Different, with which I recently wrapped up the second draft stage, and Living Rain, which is progressing along as a first draft.  

The hardest part of writing this thank you note was not the actual thanking part, it was finding a piece of my writing to show what I've learned through GTW. But here you go! This is from Different, which has gone through a TON of changes as you can see. (The before is seriously making me cringe...)

Before

A lot of people think I live a crazy or weird life, but really, I just live a life of everyday adventure. Let me explain. My name is Hope Allison White. I am fourteen years old and the oldest of the nine kids in my family. Yup, there's the shocker. I can picture the expression on your face right now—because it's bound to be the same as the expression that appears on everyone's faces when I spring the "nine kids" one on them. Well, now that we've got that out of the way, let me tell you more about my life.

My family lives at Rainbow Creek Ranch outside the town of Goldston, North Carolina. Okay, so it's not really a ranch, but that's what we call the property. My siblings' names and ages are, from oldest to youngest, Rebecca and Luke (11 year old twins), Jonathan (9 years old), Grace and Emma (7 year old twins), Matthew (6 years old), Olivia (5 years old), and Nathan (2 years old). Go ahead, try to remember them all. I'll be impressed if you do. Well, maybe.

We are all homeschooled. That's right, we're some of those "weird" homeschoolers. Of course, we're not really all that weird, which is what you'll see if you take the time to get to know us. Sure, we're a little different, but who says different can't be good or fun?

One thing our family has a lot of (besides kids, of course) is adventures. Most of them aren't the kind you're thinking of, like swinging on vines through the jungle, traveling to faraway lands, starring in movies—stuff like that. Nope, we don't have those kinds of adventures. But real adventures aren't the kind nobody you know has. Actually, those might be adventures, but the kind I'm talking about are the ones lots of people have, they just don't always know it. You only have to be able to recognize them. This is the story of the White family adventures, told through the eyes of me, Hope. So sit back in your seat and hold on tight, because this is going to be a wild ride!

After

Everyone thinks homeschooling is weird, my big family is weird, and, most certainly, I’m weird. That’s only one group of people’s opinion, however, and definitely does not count as fact. I’ll admit it--I’m different. Always have been, always will be. And I’m certainly pretty weird at times. But not in the way everyone thinks.

My life has been like this a long time. One of strangers’ first questions is where I go to school. I say “I’m homeschooled” and suddenly, something changes. They ask about my family, and when I tell them I have eight younger siblings...something else changes. Polite people try to hide it, but their face changes anyway. The not-so-polite ones don’t bother hiding it. In a way, the first group’s response hurts the worst. It shows even though they aren’t rude, they’ve made their decision: I’m different.

Like I said, it’s been like this forever. And today is no different.

Today my family is moving into our new house in Jacksonville, Florida. We left our house in the tiny town of Bloxom, Virginia last week. Most of my siblings were sad to leave, but not me. Too many hard memories in that town.

I shake my head to clear the thoughts of the past and bend to lift a box.

Amanda Fischer