tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post5197244714811244434..comments2024-03-29T05:52:04.253-05:00Comments on Smack Dab in the Middle: Writing for the Twelve-Year-Old MeHolly Schindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742207239654178917noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-31079312904555351282011-04-19T08:02:39.215-05:002011-04-19T08:02:39.215-05:00Thanks so much, Ying and Sheela!Thanks so much, Ying and Sheela!Stephanie Burgishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04351035806176448886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-42748656138802719312011-04-17T20:24:06.203-05:002011-04-17T20:24:06.203-05:00Loved this post, Steph. :)
I wonder sometimes wha...Loved this post, Steph. :)<br /><br />I wonder sometimes what our 12-year-old selves would of our grown-up selves.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-66343969732484954152011-04-17T13:10:33.381-05:002011-04-17T13:10:33.381-05:00Steph, we were the same 12-year-old! I'm so gl...Steph, we were the same 12-year-old! I'm so glad you had the courage to write this post.Y S Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18330808933361167527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-80916838901052665962011-04-17T06:28:25.101-05:002011-04-17T06:28:25.101-05:00Marcia, I love that so many of us do this!
And Je...Marcia, I love that so many of us do this!<br /><br />And Jess, I love that story - because look at you now! Aren't you glad you learned to write no matter what distractions were going on around you? ;)Stephanie Burgishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04351035806176448886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-23750413066703483412011-04-17T00:01:46.189-05:002011-04-17T00:01:46.189-05:00Oh, Steph, do you know the ONLY time I got yelled ...Oh, Steph, do you know the ONLY time I got yelled at in elementary school was because I was writing under the desk instead of paying attention to the teacher? I was ten and mortified. And yet...I'm not entirely sorry, now. :)Jessica Spotswoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12881559695365177034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-42926935128571442402011-04-16T18:40:05.458-05:002011-04-16T18:40:05.458-05:00I completely agree. I write for the 12-year-old me...I completely agree. I write for the 12-year-old me.Marciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10006966091789130047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-91068109207657920842011-04-16T16:16:07.149-05:002011-04-16T16:16:07.149-05:00Renee, I totally empathize with that driving dilem...Renee, I totally empathize with that driving dilemma! :) And I love the imagery of Kat as a message in a bottle.<br /><br />Emily, you're so right about the hold childhood has on us - we never totally outgrow it! But I have to say, if I had told my 12-year-old self that jeweler Emily Mah would be making gorgeous jewelry based on MY books, I would not have believed it. I would have known it was too cool to possibly be true! :)Stephanie Burgishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04351035806176448886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-90508779109807636552011-04-16T12:45:15.423-05:002011-04-16T12:45:15.423-05:00It's weird, but the person who's opinion I...It's weird, but the person who's opinion I care about most is myself as a child. I often look back and wonder if the girl I was would like the woman I am now. Amazing what a hold our childhood has on us.<br /><br />I think she'd think it was very cool that I know Stephanie Burgis. She'd have enjoyed AMIM enough to reread it as an adult and love it even more, what with all the irony that probably would have flown right over my head when I was ten.Emily Mahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11058371468029680332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-56221869364410391252011-04-16T11:02:53.029-05:002011-04-16T11:02:53.029-05:00Love this post! I can't say that I was shy whe...Love this post! I can't say that I was shy when I was a kid but the rest of your description could be me. When I finally got my drivers license, I had no idea how to get anywhere because when other people were driving, I was reading. :) I brought a book with me EVERYwhere. <br /><br />I love that KAT is like a book written for that past you. Sort of a message in a bottle, sent back in time. :)Renee Sweethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06905366972383197600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-62335309050878890592011-04-16T10:45:07.034-05:002011-04-16T10:45:07.034-05:00Trish, I SO wish we had known each other as twelve...Trish, I SO wish we had known each other as twelve-year-olds!!! *HUGS*<br /><br />And Cassandra, you're so right - what's most important is having that safe space, whether it's in books or in theater or anywhere else that WORKS. (And I love your username! I Capture the Castle is one of my favorite books EVER!)Stephanie Burgishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04351035806176448886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-14361760863140946042011-04-16T09:14:39.125-05:002011-04-16T09:14:39.125-05:00Oh wow, Stephanie, this is exactly why I want to w...Oh wow, Stephanie, this is exactly why I want to work with teens, too. I remember so well being 12 and feeling out of place and the books and plays and directors who helped me all through it, the ones that gave me a place where I could be distinctly myself and still valued. At that age it's so hard, the pressure to be exactly like everyone else is so crushing, and having a space, whether in fiction or (like me) away from your normal one, where someone reminds you that the qualities no one cares about now are going to be the ones the right people treasure in the future is so hugely important. Thanks for the great post!Cassandra Mortmainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980440861507976453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-22581357847056079962011-04-16T08:35:13.550-05:002011-04-16T08:35:13.550-05:00Oh, I love this post! And if we'd been able t...Oh, I love this post! And if we'd been able to be 12 at the same time we'd have had EVERYTHING to talk about because I always had my nose in a book. (I also had bangs & was exceedingly awkward). I'm sending messages back in time to both of our 12-year-old selves saying, 'Hang in there! You will find your people one day!'<br /><br />Also: Kat is one of my fave characters ever. She rocks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-73485083164593684222011-04-16T07:51:29.744-05:002011-04-16T07:51:29.744-05:00It is so good to hear that, Rusty! Thank you! And ...It is so good to hear that, Rusty! Thank you! And I LOVE your line about getting to rewrite our own young adulthood to make it cooler, smarter, and way more magical. :)Stephanie Burgishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04351035806176448886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-14675956168794745442011-04-16T07:48:43.144-05:002011-04-16T07:48:43.144-05:00Wow, how touching!!! I really felt like I'd wr...Wow, how touching!!! I really felt like I'd written that post and just stumbled across it after not remembering I'd posted it!!! I was litearlly called "Rusty Webster's Dictionary" by my friends and got caught reading (Judy Blume, Sidney Sheldon, Stephen King, whatever) behind my math and sciene books ALL the time! I tell people all the time that one of the reasons I love writing YA is because with every poem, story or book you get to rewrite your own young adulthood; just this time with the chance to be cooler, say smarter things and, oh yeah, fight vampires or become zombies. SUCH a great post and I'm so glad I stopped by! The 43-year-old me -- and the 12-year-old me -- thanks you for this...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-39126764909638280952011-04-16T07:33:53.428-05:002011-04-16T07:33:53.428-05:00Keris, I HAVE to read that book!!!! :)
And Mer, I...Keris, I HAVE to read that book!!!! :)<br /><br />And Mer, I love that you do it, too!Stephanie Burgishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04351035806176448886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-37358207860567000432011-04-16T07:30:59.298-05:002011-04-16T07:30:59.298-05:00Oh Stephanie, what a GORGEOUS post. That's exa...Oh Stephanie, what a GORGEOUS post. That's exactly how I feel about writing for teens (and, weirdly, a girl who can't stop reading, lives in books and - ! - hides behind her hair is the heroine of the next book I'm writing).Keris Staintonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13248300558172516767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-29050288600252130822011-04-16T07:30:04.755-05:002011-04-16T07:30:04.755-05:00Hear hear. Writing for the girl I was--I do it to...Hear hear. Writing for the girl I was--I do it too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com