When I see 2010 I think of many things. Becoming a teenager, learning how to live and love, making new friends, beginning to write journals, and all in all things that have formed the new me. Most of that happened in school, but in early 2010 when I was desperate to fit in I looked towards Whyville.
Whyville does a lot for every one of its citizens. Sure it does add some stress, but only if you let it. In the very beginning I was never really popular here just like I wasn't in real life. I was trying so hard to fit in on Whyville, mostly to fit into the Times and its family of writers. The early months such as March and April were filled with writing and submissions, but I never got an article in. After many tries I decided to write an interview. On May 9th I saw the interview and it was my first article of 2010. I hadn't been so happy in a long time. I received good comments and everything was going smooth.
I was planning to write another article the next week, but I got the stomach flu on my thirteenth birthday. I was weak for the entire month and until school ended. I didn't write another article until the last week of June and even that took two tries of sending it in.
This was the article I considered as my start as a writer. "I See You" let me break free from a secret I had been keeping to myself for five years and after that I was a new person. I felt like the other writers when I saw the title on the front page sideline. It was also my first five star rating article and I will never forget it.
The rest of my summer was filled with thinking of article ideas. During the summer of 2010 I had six articles published. It doesn't sound like a lot to many people, but I spent a lot of time thinking, writing, and most of all editing. I am a perfectionist. Either I do things perfectly or I really don't bother. It's not a good way to be and I know that. It's just the way I am, and a lot of other writers are as well.
When school finally started I was thinking about taking a big break from writing until next summer. Maybe it could be a summer hobby. I came out with my ninth article and I thought that would be it. Then one week after it was published I got a mail saying how good it was from someone who was sixteen and lived in England. That gave me the courage to keep on writing. I had actually been considered a writer to someone.
I wrote my first poem after that letter. It was rated five stars and for a first poem I thought that was really good. It took forever to come up with another idea for a poem after I wrote my second one and when I did I ended up having a poem out two weeks back to back. The fourth poem was even inspired by the person who kept me writing. After that I wrote about five more articles and now I am here.
The Whyville Times Awards for 2010 was the biggest shock in the world. I opened a mail from one of my best friends on Whyville says congratulations for being nominated. I went to the article and saw the Why Award category. There right under it was my article I had written about other Times writers. I never thought I would get that far. Soon I will get to go to the Greek Theater and await my category to come up. If I win I will probably start screaming even though I don't seem to have a chance.
The Times is an amazing thing. It makes you keep coming back reading, writing, and rating. It makes you smile, laugh, and even cry. I know I have cried while reading a few articles and have cried writing a lot of mine. That's just what I do.
For 2011 I know I will make a mark. I hope to write one or two articles for the Times every single week. I know that this next year will be very similar to last year except for the fact I will get a lot more writing done. I will write in topics that are normally never written in and I will write my first story for Creative Writing. I will still write for people the most though. It's the place I let myself go and will say anything in. I will still cry when I write some of those pieces because I already know I will have to face things I never thought I would, some bad some good. All I can say is 2011 will be a mystery, but I will be here every week to uncover a little bit.
This is the last article I will write in the year 2010. It's been great uncovering 2010 with you.
- Misty a.k.a IKnewIt2
