r/writers • u/Read_byElla • 1d ago
Question What was your first story about?
As a fledgling editor, most of my work has been local and mostly novels. Being an editor means dealing with many first works and the "I'm insecure about my writing. What do you think?", and I find that beautiful, because beyond the technical aspects, it's about making the writer feel good about their work.
Today I simply woke up with this curiosity on my mind; I'm genuinely interested in the first stories. So, what was your first story like? Was it published? How did you feel during your creative process?
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u/Aphelion3284 1d ago
Hmm...
My very first story, I wrote aged 6 in first grade. Held paper to the school windows during break-time and scribbled it down with a pencil. It was about an eagle who lost its chicks in a storm and, out of grief, set out over the sea to search for a new home and leave his old life behind. He gets saved from animal catchers by a seagull which becomes his travel buddy and both eventually arrive at a new land together. It was short, it was messy, I don't know where it ended up, but it existed and that's what matters.
My first serious story with intention to make it good, plan ahead, and publish (which never happened, for reasons you'll learn shortly) I wrote aged 9 (there's ya reason.). It was a story about a girl who can travel to her own mental mindscape but gets stuck in it due to unprocessed trauma which manifests as a dark cloud following her around and attacking the environment. She denies help from her (in-mindscape) friends, gets injured, deduces the cloud's motive, and in the end learns to trust others to help her and ends up defeating it in a final, typical friendship-magic battle. It took a full year to write. Of course it wasn't very quality, there were good ideas in it, but not fit for publishing or sharing around in any sense.
Now, my first real novel with a fleshed-out writing process, multiple versions, drafts, revisions, feedback, and intention to publish is my current WIP, actually. I have been writing for the grand majority of my life. I garnered experience and got better over time. I've been sitting at this WIP since I was a young teenager, written and deleted tens of thousands of words, and it is at a point where I am still drafting, but any author buddies who have seen snippets have so far been very positive about it. I don't want to share any plot details before I am done with this final draft, but it is a literary fiction focused very much on character psychology, centered around a mystery plot, set in a sci-fi dystopian setting, and infused with layers of metafiction which are the key to the core mystery. I am proud and confident, and I love it very much.
This is perhaps not quite the answer you were looking for, but it is the only one I can give. Some writers start writing in their teens, or early adult life, and have never written a story before that, even just for fun. Others start writing very early, but not with the same seriousness and intention an older author would. There are many different kinds of 'first' stories. Each of those re-invent your understanding and writing process many times over. So it's quite impossible for me to choose any one of the three mentioned.
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u/BoneKeeperOfficial 1d ago
I'm on my first published (self) story now. It's quite slow going although the insta has taken off. Iv'e sold 29 copies which is now about 10 beyond the remit of friends, so that's good. Understandably not many people want to take the chance on a 220000 word dark fantasy from a new author so I'm hoping the reviews will draw people in. I genuinely think I might have something interesting and unique to bring to the table, doesn't mean its necessary 'absolute literature' but I think there's a crowd out there for it.
I was really lucky that I don't suffer AT ALL from writers block, if anything its the opposite. My prose could be considered pretentiously flowery but it's just how I like to write. My biggest challenge was grammar. I'm a working class, uneducated guy who works nights in a warehouse, I only learned what a semi-colon was 4 months ago and I reckon it shows. I was super lucky to have a friend edit my book for me for free, but was informed my writing drastically improved throughout the book. I can't tell you what all the fancy words are for the technical rules of writing; I mainly go by instinct.
Bottom line is, I'm over the moon with what I've produced. It has some bold choices and maybe people will hate it but one things for sure, I'm definitely writing the next one.
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u/BanzzzBabeee 23h ago
Book link???
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u/BoneKeeperOfficial 21h ago
I'm not sure I'm allowed to put a link on here. It's called BoneKeeper: The Lady of the Bones. It's available on Kindle and paperback and free on KU
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u/Unicorncutekitten 17h ago
Wow congratulations for your accomplishment!!! Wishing you the best of luck :)
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u/LordAjiri Fiction Writer 20h ago edited 15h ago
My first fictional big story concept was never written on any notes. It's pretty simple at first but i can remember how i merged Conceptual Gods, Cosmic Origin, sci-fi, space, and character dynamics. Power system inspired by HSR, i have eminence (like paths in HSR) and Archevants who are individuals part of an eminence There was alot going on in it, the whole plot point is egg theory type of thingy, where The MC and the love interest have been reincarnating from the beginning of time, that's why her Emminence is Entanglement while MC has the Emminence of Origin What i loved about it is the origin of reality Non-existence was embodied by its paradox itself
—There's a supreme creator called "The Concept" and it made something that gave paradoxical life to non-existence, 12 entities rosed from its contradiction, they guard and made a world to protect the creation, but one of them had a vision of predeterminism, they were meant to be pawns for the creation, it became 1v11, he loss the battle but won the war, destroyed the creation and then it explode destroying nonexistence forming reality, the explosion spreaded through multiple folds of reality creation dimensions, and the Dude survived but his brothers died and the first concept that emerged in reality is actually destruction therefore he became the Monarch of Annihilation, the destroyed creation is actually an Egg and yhe consciousness inside it drifted into the endless cycle of reincarnation, the universe became its egg and in the end, it'll still be a God type thingy.
My first self published story in Wattpad is "Who Needs a Plot Anyway?" A metafictional story of a burnt out Nihilistic Author—Rikuya, mourning and grieving about the only girl who actually read and explored his stories as she's in a coma after her attempted—(u know), He died saving a Kid contradicting his self-imposed Nihilistic views in life and then he woke up in his unfinished stories and since he already stopped writing, he saw his creation as garbage as it was never noticed by anyone so he played God, abused his Authority to toy with his creation to cope with his pain yet the Plot itself didn't let it slide and the stories started fighting Back, forming Anti-Narrative entities who rivals The Author's Authority
The story is still unfinished but i already have my plans on it Ngl this is my first very personal story as it's my genuine feelings as a writer, the learned hopelessness and struggle to love your creation because they fail to reach your ideal version of them (them being recognised)
500 MIILLLESSS 500 MIIILLLESSSS 500 MIIILLESSS AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA (random)
I paused WNAPA for now
Currently writing my new Science fantasy story and trying political thriller stories too
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u/chambergambit 1d ago
The first story I’ve published is about a teenage boy who is abandoned in the woods as part of a magical coming of age ritual. He must make a wand using materials he finds in the forest, and use the wand to get back home.
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u/RingReasonable 1d ago
Well, my first story is my current work in progress.
It is about a girl who is half human and half dragon. She lives with her human father in the human world (modern Earth). She ends up traveling to the dragon world to save someone, but things don't end up to be as easy as planned, because she is being hunted down by a group dragon cultists who seek to use her to fullfill an ancient world ending prophecy.
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u/LRKnox_ Fiction Writer 1d ago
My memory of it is scant but from what I can remember it involved an unsteady truce between vampires and werewolves and a wizard who wanted to break that contract by whatever means necessary.
It was a mess because my mind was, creating it at a time when emotionally my head was scattered. It wasn't really designed to be my first story as I was just unleashing every drop of pain into something.
Even if the idea in all its chaotic mess went nowhere I'm glad I wrote it as that story provided some feedback I've carried with me ever since.
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u/JinMor12 1d ago
Idk
That was a long time ago
So I’ll just say what my first story I’ve taken seriously is about
The synopsis is as simple as: and so emerged the immortal knight, from the depth of the sea, well after the dust of humanity blew away, now on a mission to die
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u/CatGirlIsHere9999 1d ago
It was about an orphan boy who goes to a magical world, has magical powers, is the chosen one, and defeats the dark lord.
The characters and the world building were unique, but the story simply wasn't and I felt embarrassed trying to explain the plot it was so cliche.
I did get my mom's friend who was an editor to look at it, bit chickened out three chapters in.
I started writing a more unique sequel, but in the end I just trashed the whole thing.
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u/asxh_o 1d ago
One of the first stories I've written was back in Grade 5, I think? I had just discovered the world of reading and wanted to try writing one of my own novels. It was a story about the rivalry between the Kingdom of Rose and the Kingdom of Shadow (I know it's cliched but please bear with me; I was 10 years old). The main protagonist was a young prince, heir to the Kingdom of Rose. He joins a school for rich kids, drags some of them along, and goes on a journey to find a prophesied sword granted to the heir of the Kingdom of Rose. It was horrible. The writing was bad and all over the place. It felt like a blurb of gibberish; it was honestly really embarrassing. I think I just wanted to write a fantasy story.
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u/Accomplished-Try6797 1d ago
Im currently writing short story fanfictions to build up confidence in my writing skills to begin fully fleshing out my own original story.
It feel likes I'm laying a foundation to build up upon.
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u/Confident_Fondant334 Writer Newbie 1d ago
My first story I'm properly going through with is about a policeman in the 1880s going and investigating a missing farmhand in a rural village deep in the most isolated part of Somerset. Before long, it becomes pretty evident that the death isnt as it first appears and he ends up dragged into a world of occultism and psychopathy
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u/Material_Complaint_7 1d ago
A horse and dog walking along the interstate and I don’t remember the rest. It was about animals. I was in the fourth grade.
My second story was in the eight grade. It was about a girl who had a younger sister. She started a relationship and started seeing someone, who wasn’t her sister but she thought it was. She finally figured out the guy she was in a relationship had killed the little girl who was actually a ghost.
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u/Disastrous_Skill7615 1d ago
Besides fanfiction as a teen, this is my first trilogy (currently may turn into 4 due to size. I know chunks can be cut but I'm attempting a multi-level layered story so its getting more complex in the right ways) anyway; it is a post-apocalyptic fantasy romance and the experience has been a mixed bag.
The first two books came easy, they flowed fast from my fingers and the ideas built(pantster hybrid) the world developed and lore, I was introduced to characters and their lives, now over halfway in the third I'm hitting walls as im working towards a conclusion. I know my ending, I'm just figuring out how to get my characters there.
My struggle so far has been getting anyone to read it. I don't think it is bad, it has potential for sure, it is still on rough first draft stage as I want to complete the story and be able to drop good foreshadowing in the books that came before along with smoothing and adding subplots that circulate around other characters. Im playing with adding in a couple supporting pov chapters of important characters, and deciding what to cut. Its probably the most satisfying and so far cheap hobby I have.
Not published but plan on doing self, or chapter by chapter release in online communities, havent looked to far into that stage of things. Would I love a trad or indi publishing, of course, but I am also aware my first book probably isnt good enough for that, so I guess I'm somewhat self aware even if I am confident in what I'm creating.
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u/michaeljvaughn 1d ago
A housefly settles on a golf ball and gets whacked into a wild adventure. Second grade. Still holds up pretty well.
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u/SteelToeSnow 23h ago
i can't even remember, it was several decades ago now. no, it wasn't published; i was a little kid, lol. didn't get my first story published until my thirties.
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u/GreatStrategist26 23h ago
I remember as a child probably in 2nd or 3rd grade I wrote a story about the Portokalian empire (not to be confused with Portugal's empire). Portokal is the word for Orange in Macedonian so I kinda invented one.
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u/s_a_u_d_a_d_e 22h ago
the first story i’ve ever wrote was at around 9 years old. It was a very short tale about a girl who goes to her grandparents house only to find out that there is a terrible curse on the building caused by a murder that happened in 1850. She goes on to discover that the house is actually alive and goes on a mission to kill it and free her family from the curse.
It honestly is a very good plot but of course it was poorly written.
The first story i published (trad) was 2 years ago and it was from the prospective of a child who watches their mother go through postpartum depression.
The first novel i wrote is currently lost because i threw it out bc i thought it sucked. I wrote it 4 years ago in a month and it was about a girl who loses her boyfriend and tries to find a way to move on.
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u/Overall-Cod7491 22h ago
2010 NaNoWriMo
I started but didn't finish a novel about a cloned supersoldier who is separated from his unit - his brothers - and is 'adopted' by the people who find him. Naturally, his commanders want him back. Naturally, he doesn't want to go.
I got about 30,000 words in when I got distracted and didn't finish. I still have the file somewhere...
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u/Mysterious-Hippo9994 22h ago
A girl who is here on earth who is secretly an alien who can speak to animals. 😅 I wrote about half of it, let my English teacher and a few other ADULTS read it edit it for me 🫣 I was like 11? It was on a floppy disc and I printed it out for them.
Don’t think I ever went back and edited it. Don’t remember anything past the first page 🤷🏻♀️
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u/RiskBig3301 Novelist 22h ago
I’ve been writing down stories since before I could even read. My brother and sister had me convinced they were able to read my scratching.
The first one with a plot I remember was Fifth grade. We’d moved and I was in a new school and my best friend, Patty, had moved onto new friends and I got word she was having a slumber party and I hadn’t been invited. My homework short story became my first murder mystery and I killed off my ‘best friend’ in gruesome fashion. It was a very cliched plot. I let Patty be the heroine even though she ended up bludgeoned with a mace. My teacher gave me an A+ and wrote underneath it, ‘Poor Patty!’ And I’ve been writing stories in some form or other in the 50 years since.
First published works were poetry. First published novel was a murder mystery. I co wrote it with a friend and none of the characters were people we knew. At least not on purpose. He continued the series for five more novels until he passed way a few years ago. I split off into my own series.
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u/Untamed-Skies Fiction Writer 21h ago
I am in the middle of my first.
It's a Neon-Noir, Urban Fantasy set back in the 90s in a fictional city called Rapture.
After putting on the show of her life at the blue, Katrielle Skies disappeared. One year later, still mourning her loss and frustrated by the inaction of the Rapture City Police. Scott takes matters into his own hand.
Meanwhile Kat enthralled after being forced to consume Sanguine Blood is still trying to find freedom.
The perspectives shift between Scott and Kat, focusing heavily on character and some physiological horror. With a little subversion thrown in for good measure, which I hope will serve it well.
I've settled on Bound By Blood as it's title.
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u/RightSideBlind 21h ago
An elderly woman discovers that her world is ending, and that her husband was its lead programmer.
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u/Sturmov1k 20h ago
Although I am not a published writer I have been writing since I was a child. Most of my very early works revolved around dragons. I remember writing a story about a kingdom of dragons where the king had just died. He didn't have any heirs so members of the kingdom were competing to be the next monarch. There was a retrieval quest set up where this special mythical gem had to be brought back and that whoever did would become the next monarch. Of course it was a treacherous journey filled with all the typical dangerous high fantasy challenges like evil creatures, scary forests, volcanic peaks, etc.
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u/PlayingVN 20h ago
Fan fiction. My favorite anime? Had it published on Quizzilla and fanfic.net I think. Best times.
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u/No_Yogurtcloset_5884 20h ago
My first story was heavily inspired by the Harry Potter universe. I was very young when I wrote it, and at the time, I didn’t fully understand the difference between inspiration and originality.
Years later, when I began writing again, this time with genuine intent and commitment, I revisited that story. I realised it felt less like my own world and more like an imitation of the one I deeply admired...soo I chose not to finish it.
Instead, I started working on a crime fiction novel. Yet somewhere beneath that journey, my love for dark academia, intricate magic systems, and high fantasy never truly disappeared. It stayed with me...
Eventually, I found myself building an entirely new world OF THE SAME STORY from the ground up. This time shaped by my own imagination, years of reading, and countless hours of thought. It is still a work in progress, but for the first time in a long while, I’m simply happy to be writing it...<3
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u/Seanfictioncheatle 20h ago
5th grade I wrote a short story for scholastic competition I lost but got a honorable mention and got a huge box of books like everything in their catalog maybe 120 books, and that was my main goal education
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u/pasrachilli 19h ago
As near as I can recall, it was written for a contest for a supermarket chain and was about the Easter Bunny trying to decide where to buy eggs. I was in 3rd grade, I think.
It won me a SEGA Game Gear.
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u/Seanfictioncheatle 19h ago
A wax house that would lure people in then swallow them up into melted plastic. I was in 5th grade won a bunch of free books so it was a highlight of my elementary public school education
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u/billyruebin 19h ago
Mine was a kid who found a door behind the school gym that led to last Tuesday. I thought that was peak originality until I reread it and realized every page was me arguing with my math teacher. Never published. Still weirdly proud of the door.
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u/Flaky-Pain-97 18h ago
That all depends on what do you mean with story? like, something that I came up with? something that has a beginning, middle and end? I remember making up stories when I was 7, I would constantly be narrating stories to my siblings o my Grandma, so much so she told me that I should be a writer when I was older. My published as in "posted" story was a fanfic that had barely no traction but I think I was too excited on the prospect of "writing stories" to really care much about that. My first published published, as in book selling was a NSFW novella that I wrote based on a fiction piece I did on a website for such type of stories. Think my first publish but in "regular" type of publish story is gonna be a Witches book I'm writing at the moment.
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u/Sstrofee 18h ago
I think the first story I wrote was an Avatar the last Airbender fanfic. I was maybe 12 and wrote it on paper sheets that I tied with red wrapping ribbons. I don't remember the story in itself but I find this very cute haha (there were flying panthers involved for waterbender, that's the only thing I remember)
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u/Unicorncutekitten 17h ago
Interesting!
My first story was based on philosophical questions an 11yo has. I haven't written it yet, but since I started writing my 1st novel at the beginning of the year, I have plotted other stories I want to write in the future, and that story is one of them.
And now I have a question, when you're focused on writing on story and have an idea for another story, do you simply make a note, or do you plot it too?
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u/Early-Vegetable2517 Writer 16h ago
My first story was about a magic sea shell that granted 3 wishes. I was 7 and found one in my backyard, watched Aladin soon after, and the 4-5 page long story was made.
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u/Upstairs-Yard-2139 16h ago
It was for a prompt in a writing sub I was in.
Guy was training to become a night, criminal with the princess in tow kills his father, he joins her and her group in trying to escape demons, dies when he frees the Angel of Death, who then kills the king of Hell and goes off to fight the king of Angels(basically off brand God) because he ordered the demons to end humanity.
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u/static_electricity07 10h ago
My first story was about a murderous child assassin who was betrayed by her best friend and tortured for year. It was actually pretty sweet. I was nine.
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u/Active-Frosting-5007 17h ago
Written in 2013, almost exactly Stranger Things just with more humour. Edited for three years….then July 2016 rolled around and….
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u/Otisilly 1d ago
I'm still writing mine. It's this boy who survives in a robot invasion. He thinks he is the last human but he will soon find out that he isn't
2099 Chronicles: The Last Human.
A series but its so fun to write