12+ Episode 90 (1 April 2024): My first "published" writing was an Enid Blyton-Famous Five-style adventure story, Sand Island, in 1972. I wrote the story and illustrated it with coloured Texta markers. My aunt, the only one in our family with a typewriter, typed up the manuscript. And my father helped bind and cover the book. I was ten.
I wrote this blog post, shared as A Good Story - Sand Island on Tall And True, in February 2021, one year before the 50th Anniversary of "publishing" Sand Island as a ten-year-old in 1972.
As I revealed in the post, the story was inspired by my love of Enid Blyton's adventure stories, my ten-year-old imagination, and my love of writing. It also helped that I didn't have the modern-day distractions of computers, gadgets, and 24-hour TV.
I quoted paragraphs and dialogue from Sand Island in the blog post, which is why the writing and narration in this episode might sound "a little bit" immature. I also shared photos of my Texta-coloured illustrations in the post, including the four children in the boat rowing to Sand Island while singing, "Row, row, row your boat".
Between you and me, it's just as well I stuck to writing and didn't pursue a career as an artist!
I also mentioned Sand Island in Episode 88 of Tall And True Short Reads, Finding Inspiration, as an example of my early storytelling.
A Good Story
As I concluded in the post, 2022 marked the 50th Anniversary of my first "published" writing, inspired by Enid Blyton and my ten-year-old imagination.
Reading Sand Island with my middle-aged writer's eyes, I'm pleased to see that the young me understood the five elements of a good story: characters, plot, setting, tension and resolution.
I try to incorporate these elements in my writing today. Even if the middle-aged me sometimes leaves the resolution hanging in what I hope are my good short stories.
More Writing
I hope you enjoy A Good Story. You can read all my blog posts, selected short stories and other writings on Tall And True.
You can also buy the Tall And True Microfiction anthology and my short story collections from the Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Kobo online bookstores.
LOVE WRITING?
Share and showcase your writing — fiction, nonfiction and reviews — as a Guest Writer on Tall And True.
Please Share
You can listen to A Good Story on Acast (player above), the Tall And True Short Reads website, or find it and other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all popular podcasting apps.
The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be released shortly. In the meantime, please check your feed or the podcast website, TallAndTrueShortReads.com, for earlier episodes from all four seasons, and follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite podcasting app — doing so helps share my storytelling.
Finally, please share this blog post and podcast episode with family and friends and tell them and random strangers about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers' website.
© 2024 Robert Fairhead
N.B. You might like to read the blog post introducing Tall And True Short Reads - Season Four.
Robert is a writer and editor at Tall And True and blogs on his eponymous website, RobertFairhead.com. He also writes and narrates episodes for the Tall And True Short Reads storytelling podcast, featuring his short stories, blog posts and other writing from Tall And True.
Robert's book reviews and other writing have appeared in print and online media. In 2020, he published his début collection of short stories, Both Sides of the Story. In 2021, Robert published his first twelve short stories for the Furious Fiction writing competition, Twelve Furious Months, and in 2022, his second collection of Furious Fictions, Twelve More Furious Months. And in 2023, he published an anthology of his microfiction, Tall And True Microfiction.
Besides writing, Robert's favourite pastimes include reading, watching Aussie Rules football with his son and walking his dog.
He has also enjoyed a one-night stand as a stand-up comic.
