Welcome to the story of Tyler Renee, a literary artist.
So about 10 years ago, eight year old me sat down on a beige couch with a speckled composition book in my pink “writer’s robe” (a bathrobe that I only wore when writing at home) and wrote a 20 page story about three girls and a dolphin. Now, looking back on that story, I can honestly tell you that it was trash. But it succeeded in helping me find my passion for writing.
After that, I started writing poetry. I filled many composition books with rhyming poems (I was a fan on the ABAB CDCD rhyme scheme at the time.) It became more often that one would find me scribbling away in a composition book writing than reading AR books or doing my math homework. This of course caused some problems and for a couple years or so I didn’t write at all.
When I got to be 12 or 13, I picked up the habit again (this time abandoning the rhyme scheme all together). I would write short fiction stories and create characters in my free time. I wrote about my religious beliefs and societal problems. I wrote of depression and happiness.
But then I started going through a hard time getting anywhere with my stories and would throw most away as soon as I broke away from them. I would tear pages upon pages of writing out of my notebooks before throwing them away because at the time I didn’t believe in my writing in the slightest bit.
Then when I was 15, I learned about Mississippi School of the Arts and I was once again inspired to write and I started to really believe that I could be a poet and write for a living. I practiced create several portfolios for the application for Mississippi School of the Arts. I was fully prepared to apply. But the year of my application, I was not in the best of mindsets. I lost full belief in my writing and myself. I threw away all of my poetry and fiction pieces that I had cultivated. I gave up writing and any dreams that I had that I could live the life of a literary artist.
However, my friend, Nakiejah Hickman, talked me into rewriting my pieces and applying anyways. The day I received my acceptance letter was the day that I fully accepted that my writing was not the trash I believed it to be. From that day forward, I have written many poems and fiction pieces. I have written plays and monologues (I mean they were not the best but they didn’t suck too bad).
I am proud to call myself a literary artist. And I am proud to say that I have come a long way from the 8 year old in a pink robe writing about dolphins. And while I lost years of my earliest works, I am proud to have struggled the way I had. It taught me to fully embrace my creativity and my art.
So here’s to a new year of literary growth.
