callistahogan: (Default)
callistahogan ([personal profile] callistahogan) wrote2009-10-08 02:35 pm

LJ Idol: Week 0 - Introduction

Compared to most people in this competition, I have had very little life experience. I am a teenager, not yet halfway through my high school career. I have only been outside my home state once and that was when I was much too young to remember it. I have lived a very sheltered Christian life. Most of my time I spend holed up in my room, reading novels, surfing the Web, and contemplating the sad state of the world today.

There is not much I can tell you about my past, because to be honest it is a lot like my present. Sure, I am a little older, a little wiser, but I am still just a girl. I am a girl who is trying to find her place in this world, and a girl who finds it increasingly difficult to do so. I read to escape to a different world -- just as I did at eight or nine, when I read the Harry Potter books for the first time. I write to express myself, to show the parts of myself that I often do not let anyone else see. I yearn to show the world what I have to offer, and to show people that I am so much more than a stereotypical teenager.

I am proud to call myself an Independent. As you will see if you read my journal with any regularity, I used to be a Republican, but after seeing the pointlessness of the whole Republican/Democrat war, being an Independent seemed like the choice to make. That doesn't mean I am not a strong Christian, with strong Christian morals, because I am. It simply means that I prefer to form my own opinions, without worrying what either party is saying. I don't want to feel pigeonholed into believing this is the solution to that, or that this is the only solution to that other thing.

Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about me is that I am a writer.

First and foremost, my goal in life is to be an author. Not necessarily a published author, although that would be nice. I just want people to read something I have written and feel something, whether it be sorrow, joy, or maybe even confusion. If just one person looks at what I've written and is touched by it, then in my mind, writing a hundred stories to get to that one touching moment is worth it. Writing is the way I show people who I am, and without it, I wouldn't be where I am today.

I have been writing since I was about six years old. It suppose it all started in first grade, when I learned to read (or when my teachers first started teaching us how to read, that is; I was probably reading before then). I remember wanting to write, although I wasn't sure how at the time. My first story, which was written in second grade, was entitled "A Sour Skittle Story" and underwent several alterations as time went on. It was never finished, and for a while, writing was on the back burner until I started writing fanfiction. Bam, the passion was back.

That was six years ago.

I have been writing for more than half my life.

Perhaps that's why I entered this competition in the first place. I am a writer who yearns to tell people who I am, and what better way to do that than being in a competition of this magnitude? 

I want to tell people about standing on a picnic table in front of my apartment when I was three or four after my family's washing machine broke. I want to tell people about sleeping in my own room in first grade, with the bugs attached to the window and the cockroach I found on my blanket that one night. I want to tell people about taking speech lessons in third grade, and being disappointed in fourth when my teacher didn't seem to like me. I want to tell people about fifth grade when I met my best friend, and sixth grade when I truly became friends with her. I want to tell people about seventh grade, when I spent a whole month researching creationism and evolution and writing down page after page after page of Internet articles. I want to tell them about my experiences in English classes over the years, and how my teachers have -- in one form or another -- showed me what I have to do to fulfill my dream.

To be honest, I just want to tell people the fact that I am a fifteen-year-old Christian Independent girl who has dreams too big for her heart, and a heart too big for her mind.

[identity profile] angyllina.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
What a nice intro! You have a great "voice" and I am really looking forward to reading more about you.

[identity profile] misalady.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm really looking forward to reading more of your work.

[identity profile] twistersflower.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
You write beautifully! You certainly don't sound like a teenager (hey, wait a minute - that sounds insulting!) I wish I had been as mature as you are at your age (I'm old enough to be your Gran).

As for politics and Christianity, I sing in a Lutheran church in Manhattan and everyone there is a devout Christian and very committed to living out Jesus's teachings of charity toward the poor. I doubt you'd find one Republican among them. Well, maybe one. How can a political party that favors the rich be "Christian"?

Enough of politics. I actually never write about politics because I can talk politics to anyone. I like to write about my feelings. Welcome!!

[identity profile] zia-narratora.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
I so agree with you about politics and I think it is brave of you to put your political beliefs right out there when a lot of people shy away from that. I identify as an independent even though I am registered Democrat-- I only registered because I feel like it's important to get to vote in primaries. But it bothers me when people on BOTH sides of politics get into rhetoric instead of really trying to figure out what is best for people.

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh, I love that quote. I might have to work that one into a post of mine some day. :)

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. There are so many little things in my life that I've gone through that have shaped the person I am today, so many things I remember from when I was a kid that, for all intents and purposes, I should have been too young to remember. And yet I do remember them, and I want to share them. Because those moments make up who I am. :)

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I have to say, it was this past election that made me more politically aware. I started following it at the end of eighth grade/beginning of ninth. I started out being a staunch supporter of John McCain, and then jumping back and forth from McCain to Obama to McCain and back again when Obama was elected president. And then I started reading some LJs of more liberal people, along with some LJs of more conservative people, and I realized that both sides have good points, and so often people can't see that. Now I'm straight down the middle on so many issues that I can't align myself with any one group. My values are more conservative, for example, but my views on how to tackle the problems of today are slightly more aligned with the liberal side. I think. I'm still working out all my political nonsense. :)

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! :D

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
:) Thank you! I hope you enjoy the contest too, and good luck!

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

I'm sure I have some great stories locked up in my mind and I know I have some learning experiences in my life. I'm just still learning that I have things to teach people, even if I haven't been to, say, Australia or China. I am also still learning how to write about events in my life. But then again, that's what this competition is for, and I'm hoping I'll learn a lot about myself as a writer as time goes on. Already, I'm learning, actually! :D

Good luck to you as well! And if you ever want to ramble, come over here. I don't mind rambling in the least. (As you can see, as I'm just going on and on and on. ;))

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! :)

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I think you have an amazing style of writing as well; your intro really stood out. :)

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
:) Thanks!

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 09:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, that doesn't sound insulting at all! I'm proud to hear that I don't sound like a teenager. :D

Most of the Christians I know are Republicans, but I'm from a very small town that has numerous Baptist churches scattered about all around it. A lot of the people are Republicans, and some of the things they are doing in my town at the moment are really bothering me.

Anyway, thank you for your comment!

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I agree that it's important to vote in the primaries, but I truly don't fit in with either Republicans or Democrats. I am truly right down the middle when it comes to solutions to problems, even though my values lean more towards the Republican side. So when I'm old enough to vote (which I will be in the next elections, woot!) I am definitely registering as an Independent.

I hate rhetoric as well. It bothers me when politicians get so caught up in the whole Republican/Democrat divide and don't even try to reach across the aisle -- even though that's what they talk about in a majority of their speeches, which is nine times out of ten a load of bull.

[identity profile] oneonthefence.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
With all hope that this does not sound condescending... you do not write like a 15 year old. You write with a voice and a spirit older than your years, and that is to your benefit. Kudos to you for your articulation and desire to tell the stories of your life that transcend some of those in your peer group.

Welcome to the competition; see you around these here fine parts :)

[identity profile] mstrobel.livejournal.com 2009-10-09 11:08 pm (UTC)(link)
If I hadn't added you already, I'd be adding you now! XD

Everything shapes us, and the little things really do matter. And are interesting, I think.

[identity profile] poppetawoppet.livejournal.com 2009-10-10 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
What a lovely introduction.

As a mildly Christian liberal, I respect a lot of how you view life politically. (I have known to be very conservative on a lot of things)

GOOD luck.

I wish I'd had half your conviction at that age

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-10 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! :D

And don't worry, it doesn't sound condescending at all. I know typical teenage writing, and I'm rather glad mine doesn't sound like it!

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-10 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you! :D

My political views do lean slightly more toward the conservative end, but so slightly that it is hardly even noticeable.

Good luck to you too!

[identity profile] jenandbronze.livejournal.com 2009-10-10 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, my writing was *NOT* good at 15!!! I had to work hard for years to get it good as it is now, with English not my first language!

[identity profile] monkeysugarmama.livejournal.com 2009-10-10 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
Welcome to Idol, darlin! You've found the right forum to stretch your wings.

[identity profile] cacophonesque.livejournal.com 2009-10-10 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
This was a nice post. You've got a freshness and honesty to your writing that I like. It doesn't feel like "playing the game" just sharing your passion and writing from the heart. It's really refreshing. Good luck.

[identity profile] callistahogan.livejournal.com 2009-10-10 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

What is your first language?

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