by Erin Yorke

Created on: August 04, 2011   Last Updated: August 05, 2011

Since I was a small child, I have been fascinated by the power of words and story. I started out by making up stories as I went to sleep. At first, I didn't know that, to keep my stories private, I should not say the words out loud. My parents would think I was being cute and chuckle as they listened in. Sometimes that was my way of trying to create a good dream to enjoy as I slept that night. And, often, it worked.

For a few years, I wrote to my former Grade 2 teacher. She was my first pen pal. Mom saved some of the rough drafts of the letters I wrote, as well as my teacher's replies. These are now invaluable as they remind me of the child writer I once was. Also, they no doubt helped me reflect on my little world and write it down for someone else's enjoyment.

As I got older, I wrote stories about talking animals, especially rabbits. I would try to make them a little bit like a fairy tale, but they all acted just like people. Around age 12, I wrote a science fiction tale about 3 triplets that move to Mars. I wrote poetry, too. At that age, my poems were mostly animal ones. I later published a few of these on Helium.

Inspired by C.S.Lewis, I wanted to give my fiction a Christian twist. I decided to enter a writing contest in OWL Magazine. We were asked to look at a picture of a girl running away from something and make up a story about it. The girl was wearing red shoes. I decided she was going to lose her sister and end up meeting Jesus in 30 AD via a dream. I didn't win, but I did get Honorable Mention.

As a teen, I had to write many essays and some poems for school. In high school, I had to write a Shakespearean sonnet. My finished product, a devotional poem, was acceptable but not memorable. What I learned from the experience was how challenging it is to write in iambic pentameter. The Petrarchan sonnet style was even more challenging.

 Even is school assignments, I tried to be as creative as I could in my choice of topic, words, and personal style. I took on challenging subjects such as C.S.Lewis's "Perelandra" and "The Abolition of Man", and enjoyed them thoroughly. I was thrilled when my teacher complimented me by saying I already wrote like a college student. So, I decided to major in English.

In my early 20s, I started but did not complete a correspondence course from The Institute for Children's Literature. For me, the writing process is more fun when I don't have to come up with a thrilling story to compete with the literature greats. So, other than in my university courses, I did not write much other than letters and a website. Besides, my literature and language courses kept me quite busy.

After graduation, I found myself under employed and bored. I went surfing around free stuff and survey sites, signing up for quite a few things. In November 2005, I lucked out and found a link to Helium. I decided to give it a try, and am glad I did. Helium is a place where I can express myself creatively through poems and memoirs. I can also share my old writings and improve them through leapfrogs. I can share knowledge and research interesting subjects. At last I can say I am a published author, paid for my work. At the rate I am paid here, this may not be my dream job. To say it is a dream come true, however, would be a huge understatement.

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