By KEVIN KAUMANS
Assistant Editor
When I began writing my first “book” at age 11, I was convinced for some reason that I would become a best-selling author in a year’s time.
Of course, since it was barely more than thirty pages long, I was not only unable to get it published as a novel, but my dream of becoming the youngest author to become famous never came.
I began writing a new series when I was thirteen called Sharp-Eye: A Strange Beginning, which was about a grey wolf with a permanently closed left eye and his two friends: Meme the white wolf in her twin brother Shank (don’t ask me why thirteen-year-old me named them that, it was just the first names that popped into my mind).
The plot of the book was that Sharp-Eye and his friends got transported to a building containing a city inside it far away from their home after getting caught in a blizzard while hunting. Inside the building, the three find it’s home to four packs of both wolves and dogs.
The story was a mess; the plot was rushed and hardly explained itself, the characters were all one-dimensional, but what I’d argue to be the worst of all is that the dialogue was atrocious. Here, let me show you an example:
“When the gang got in “The courtroom” They were greeted by four male wolves (Possibly all leaders.). One gold, another white and the third red. And the last one was a dog who was black and brown like Dreaka.
“That’s my dad.” She whispered.
“Welcome to the court young ones. What are your names?” Asked the golden fur one.
“M-my name is Sharp-Eye.” Said Sharp-Eye trying to find his words. “And this is my friends: Meme and Shank.”
“Ah, classic names. Mine’s Speed.” Said the gold one.
“Mine’s Prayed.” Said the white one.
“Red.” Said the red one.
“Mad.” Said the black and brown dog.
“Hey, good names but can we go now?” Asked Shank.
-Sharp-Eye: A Strange beginning
See what I mean? Not only is the grammar worthy of a failing grade, but whenever anyone talks, it always feels clunky and rushed, leaving the audience no time to process any new information. If you were to have a group of people read this example outloud and show the audio to a random person with no context, they’d probably tell you that the voice actors sound like their bus was leaving in three minutes.
But while I’m embarrassed by the draft of my first book, I’m also proud of it at the same time.
After all, some people wait until their middle ages to start writing, while middle school me was over here trying to be the next Erin Hunter.
So many people in this world are afraid to let their creativity shine in fear of being judged or mocked, when for all they know they could be the greatest writer, artist, or musician of their time.
Of course, after it took me two years to realize my first draft was terrible, I started all the way from the beginning and renamed the book to Wolves Of The Tundra: Sharp-Eye’s Growth (and in case you are wondering, Meme’s new name is Snowlae, pronounced “Snow-lie” and Shank is now Whiteale, pronounced “White-ale”).
I self-published the book in the Summer of 2022, and have it up for sale on Amazon.
Overall, what I want you, Fellow Reader, to take from my story is this: Don’t be afraid to express your work. But at the same time, don’t be afraid to start from scratch if you hate the premise and find it unfixable.
Contact Kevin Kaumans:
Email:kakaumans60@rangers.nwosu.edu
