Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Matt Hayes: How I Became A Writer


Up next  in this parade of guest posts is Matt Hayes, a stellar young writer (and one of my younger stalkers), who I first met in person at LTUE 2012. I had the chance to read some of his work, and wow! If I had written that well at his age, I'd be a best seller by now, which looks promising for Matt's future. Take it away, buddy!

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Hi, guys! I’m Matt from Matt’s Writing Lair, filling in for David while he’s on revision hiatus. Let us wish him luck.

For those of you who’ve stuck around David’s blog for a while now, do you recall a certain post from February called “Start Now, Not Later”? David mentioned me in this post, along with my friend Jackson Porter. It was a very inspiring post, one that touched Jackson and I alike, and gained us each about five new followers on our blogs.

I want to take the opportunity to talk about that post. How did we get to be writers at such a young age?

1) My parents read to me all the time as a kid, so, naturally, I picked up on reading at a young age, even though I didn’t actually read avidly until I was about 9. The first few books I picked up was the entire Narnia set by C.S. Lewis, which was sort of the spark of my writing career.

2) The next book I picked up was The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, and I absolutely loved it. I picked up the sequel almost immediately after I finished reading it, and, while waiting for the third one, I read Eragon by Christopher Paolini. These three books inspired me.

3) Before I knew it, I wrote a 20-page short story. I researched writing and read about writing and watched videos about writing. I practiced every day, not letting my counter-productivity get the better of me. I wrote at least a sentence or two if that was all it took. I turned my short story into 3 short novels, which became the genesis of my current novel.

This isn’t me boasting. It’s to show you that you can do it just like I did, whether you’re 15 or 30 or 60. If you keep putting it off, it’s not going to happen. If you’ve only got one life, make it awesome and do what you really want to do.

My name is Matt Hayes. I’m 14, and I can say I did something cool before I died. So can you, if you put your heart and soul into it. It takes time, I know. I’ve been working on the same thing for almost six years now. It doesn’t get any easier, but the more patience you have and the more effort you put into it, the better you’ll feel when it’s all done.

I’m Matt, and, you can’t catch your dreams if you don’t go after them, so what are you waiting for?

20 comments:

  1. *love*

    Matt, this is exactly what I needed to "hear" today... thanks so much for this. You truly are an inspiration! Really. There are parts of me that wish I would've found writing sooner, but I'm just glad I found it period. :D Great post!

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  2. This is really well written. It's easy to see that you have a wise soul - I am certain success is in your future, and if I can follow your advice, hopefully mine too :)

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  3. I started around your age but didn't pursue it until... Well, many years later. Rock on, Matt!

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  4. Wow, I'm also fourteen and writing epic fantasy... Like you I began my current novel several years ago and am about to start it again from the beginning with a better plot, more know-how, and much better writing ability in general. Good luck with your writing.

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  5. Hi Matt! Someday I hope my children start off by saying, "My parents read to me all the time." Man, that would be awesome. Thanks for sharing your writing journey!

    *waves to David*

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  6. This is awesome. I love that your parents started you out on the road to writing and that it has become a passion for you at this age. Good Luck!

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  7. Hi Matt. It sounds like you are motivated to succeed. I wish you the best success with all your endeavors.

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  8. I'm also one of David's younger stalkers :D

    You're right though, it isn't really about how old you are when you start. Starting is one thing, but to actually finish is a completely different ball game. Thanks for the reminder!

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  9. Wonderful! Thanks for sharing your story, Matt. I so respect young writers who pursue publication early and I really wish I had done so too. It's not like I'm old or anything right now (mid-20s here) but just to think of all that time I could have spent writing...! I'm sure with your positive attitude, you will succeed.

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  10. awesome post and excellent advice. Wish I knew that when I was 14!

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  11. Really great post with sound advice. Good luck in your writing.

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  12. Go you, Matt! I'm totally with David. Start early. You have to crank out a lot of material to get good, so the sooner you start the sooner you can get tha learning pr-art behind you.

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  13. Wise words Matt - well done and best of luck

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  14. I'm so impressed that you are starting so early, Matt! Very inspiring post and I agree that we can't catch our dreams unless we go after them!

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  15. So inspiring! I definitely have a ton of respect for you, Matt. I think your story will be my inspiration for the summer. :)

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  16. This is one of those posts I wish I read back when I was 14 and very afraid of letting the world hear my voice :)

    Matt, you rock!

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  17. What a great message, Matt! Thank you for sharing it. :D

    Best of luck with your writing!

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  18. Nice to see you outside your lair, Matt! One can never read too many encouraging and inspiring posts. Thanks!

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  19. Way to go Matt! You're such an inspiration! Great post. ;)

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  20. Nice to meet you, Matt. My daughter is nearly 12 and she's a writing machine. I'm going to show her this post.

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