A few weeks ago I sent out a tweet asking for Guest Posts. Kellene was one of the first to respond. She has written about how she got into writing and the path that lead her there.

I don’t even remember what it looked like, but it ended my 18 year drawing career. During my senior year of high school I accidentally spied a fellow student’s drawing and immediately conceited mental defeat.

Several weeks past. Then I entered a senior announcement contest. One winner would get their saying/poem/anecdote printed and sent out to thousands of family members and friends.

I decided why not? 

But I made a mistake in mine – three lines were supposed to repeat, but for some reason I made only two match each other.

Then I flew to New York for a high school trip. I had six hours to kill so I thought I’d entertain myself and write. And write. And procrastinate. And write again.

The girls next to me wanted to see what I was doing. I obliged and let them read my story. They fell in love with it. Back in Reno, I was given a rare opportunity to read aloud what I wrote for my English class. Most listened including a very attentive Ben Hull.

 We were then given a free write class assignment – whatever we wanted to do, but we had to read it out loud. When I was done, Mrs. Anderson said, “I have always wanted to teach my students to write like that, but I never knew how.” I crafted sentences like ‘the coffee germ lighted up my soul….’ – images that had no connection whatsoever melded together by my brain and pen.

 Days later I got word I won the senior announcement contest despite my glaring mistake. The corrected final version was sent out to more than 13,000 people.

 A few years later Mrs. Anderson died of cancer.

During college, I focused on getting good grades than writing well. Until one day when I was in my media law class. I raised my hand to ask a question and the professor halted his entire lecture to loudly proclaim ‘Kellene Stockwell everyone. Best writer this school has ever produced. Your question….’ I was so stunned I sat silent.

I wanted to go to UCLA for film but it was too expensive, so I went into the second best marketable career – print journalism at the University of Nevada.  

I was excited since I’d be doing a lot of writing. Print was for me until I took my first class. The material was so hard I withdrew within three weeks and moved into broadcast. (One girl I grew up with passed the class and went onto to become a political newspaper writer in Reno. A second girl went on to win a shared Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the Columbine massacre.)

Then during my junior year I made a near fatal mistake. I wore a black and white suit to class (for my theatre audition), but the teacher thought I was going for a NEWS job interview. I thought it was ok I finally reveal my innermost secret – no I don’t want to be a reporter or serious newsperson, I want to go into entertainment. I was looked down upon until my graduation. I was one of the first there to ‘mock’ what this serious journalism school offered. Twelve years later, many Nevada broadcast journalists aspire to be the next Entertainment Tonight star. And they have the ease now to do it thanks to my big mouth.

 After college I was hired at a local TV station and I learned the hard way to write scripts. My ‘trainer’ left after one week. So it was up to me to learn firsthand.

Then one night during my shift I learned Ben Hull was killed by deputies during a mistaken identity case. I couldn’t believe it.

As time wore on my news scripts got leaner and faster to read. I took a lot of care in that. But I also learned there isn’t much creative wiggle room allowed in writing. Besides the basic who, what, when, where, why and how that’s it. I needed a creative writing outlet.

I decided to fulfill my screenwriting dream and attend UCLA. But the money and residency still held me back. And then I found a certificate program that’s completely based online. I didn’t have to move or get out of my pajamas to attend class. I was in heaven. I’m actually graduating in a few weeks.

I decided it was important to educate myself on the proper way to write a screenplay. Yes, I could read books or start writing blindly, but in the end my resulting education would be the key factor.

For my 2010 New Year’s Resolution I decided to focus on my writing. I want to leave behind a nice legacy of work, so I started querying magazines and online sites including this one. With all the knowledge I’ve gained, I think it’s just as important to give back and help others.

I’m also re-starting my novel again. It’s time. I plan to dedicate it to Mrs. Anderson and Ben Hull.

So how did you get into writing? Drop us a line and let us know, who knows, maybe you’ll turn it into a post.

You can find more of Kellene Stockwell’s writing at her blog Diva Diaries.