The Invisible Life of a Teenage Writer

Bonnie Kittle photo

By

Casey M. Millette

I squeeze my eyes shut in denial as my alarm begins to scream. The clock reads 3:55 AM. I fight the claws of sleep away as I slug to my desk and flick on the lights. I ignore my aching muscles from the intense work out I had yesterday and make a cup of tea. Time to get to work. Welcome to the grind, I tell myself.

It gets easier and easier to slip out of bed these days. Why? Pure motivation. If I am passionate about something, I will go all the way. No shortcuts. I have been on a journey since the age of twelve to finish writing a four book long series, each averaging about four-hundred pages.

Shortly after watching The Lord of the Rings with my family, movies began to catch my eye. The idea of taking a beautifully crafted literary work and adapting it for screen amazed me. I did further research. As my passion grew, I realized that the teenage years are the ideal time to chase dreams. It’s the age where people realize their dreams and are competent enough to chase them. All I had to worry about was school. Get taken care of, and I can do anything I want.

Sometime in August 2012, I realized that I had been given a gift. The epic story inside me was my own. There are seven billion plus people in this world, and I am chosen among them to tell this story of life and death, trial and triumph. It would be another several months before I realized the magnitude of my gift and decided to put it down on paper.

I vividly remember waking up every school day at four so that I could bang out as much writing as possible. My daily life changed very quickly. I had to go to bed an hour earlier to get enough sleep, give up the little things like outings with my friends, parties, or camps. No one forced me. Deep down, I just knew that I had a message to tell. I realized that even when I am long gone, this fragment of soul will stay behind forever.

Teaching myself to work tirelessly opened my eyes to the benefits of discipline, patience, accountability, and pushing to the limits. Even though I entered a world of pure fantasy in my manuscripts, I also experienced the thrill of raw creativity. I even learned how to type. My mom had bought several different typing softwares for kids, but none of them had any impact on me. That’s when I started to write. Writing was a struggle because I would be lost on the keyboard and typed finger by finger. Not anymore!

The things I’ve learned have impacted my life in amazing ways. I did my research, I wrote the query letters, and yes, I got published. This story has been given to the world through me. Just the thought of that is something to take advantage of. Anybody can do anything, as long as they`re willing to put in the work for it.

Casey M. Millette

C.M. Millette has been into writing since she was five. Her love of The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia has inspired her to write the Cursed series. Casey lives just outside Atlanta, Georgia with her family and cat, Hudson. You can follow her on the Casey M. Millette Facebook page and caseymmillette.com.