From Homeschool Student to Published Author

How homeschooling gave me the writing bug

We are so excited to have a piece about how a homeschooling student, Gianna Cruz, a 17-year-old self-published author.

When I was little, my mother spent hours reading aloud. I taught myself to read along when I was three and haven’t stopped reading since! I credit this love of reading to my mother, and especially to the homeschool education she has given me. My education offered a wealth of great literature and prompted me to write books of my own, setting me a foundation through classics of every time and place.

In fact, my earliest writing was directly based on the rich and varied books I read, but with many faults. I wrote historical fiction with a shameless disregard for historical fact. I wrote fantasy stories, disdaining any semblance of law and order in my elaborate magic. But, thanks to wide and continual reading, I came to realize the principles of good story writing—first almost by instinct, now more consciously. By this wide practice I also discovered what genres of writing I was especially interested in.

These same influences also helped to sharpen my writing style. At first I imitated my favorite books by copying not only characters and plots, but also descriptive phrases and sentence structure. As I did so, I had to adapt the writing to my own needs, and so I learned to use words more thoughtfully. I was able to discover, from the great writers of the ages, how to place emphasis in a sentence, the use of paragraphs, and other basic lessons. I learned the tools of writing from all the masters of the craft.

I also grew in my ability to fill out stories. At first, I wrote almost exclusively dialogue—the “fun” part, in my view. But homeschooling made me a more balanced writer. Our homeschool philosophy utilizes the principle of narration, or “telling back” the material studied. As I grew older more and more of my narrations were written. Through the practice of narration, I learned to write about science, history, and geography from writers in these fields, copying at times their styles. I also learned (or began to learn!) to curb another of my faults—a rambling wordiness. Since most narrations are done according to the timetable, I had to learn not to waste words, even how to summarize well.

But my homeschool education has given me even more than the foundation, and then the tools, with which to write. It has given me the material as well. Our homeschool philosophy is built partly on the idea of feeding the mind with ideas, as the body is fed with food. So many great writers talk about inspiration. An inspiration is an idea, often a sudden idea, and it’s like an electric shock. Many moments of inspiration have struck me during my schoolwork. I read something, I look up, and I say, “I’ve got a story!” Even more important, however, is what happens next: the story is built, idea by idea, until it is a plot. Sometimes the idea is a situation or scene; sometimes it is a theme; sometimes it is a character motivation; every once in a while, it is an amazing solution—and that’s one of the best feelings in the world. The ideas I encounter in my schoolwork help give my writing breadth and depth.

Thus, my education has given me the foundation of good books, the practical tools of writing, and the ideas that have shaped me as a writer and a person. I begin to pay tribute to these all-important influences by the use of quotes at the head of each chapter of my novels; I always love this practice whenever I see it in books I read! I’ve used quotes from Shakespeare, the Bible, Milton, Thompson, Cowper, and many more. Most of these quotes I’ve encountered in my school reading.

I finished my first short story when I was twelve, and my first novel soon afterwards. The sense of achievement began to intoxicate me, and I have been finishing stories ever since.

From the very first I was determined to publish, and when an older friend of mine began to self-publish her books I knew it was possible. I self-published my first book, a novel called Four Red Banners, a couple years ago, and its sequel, The Coralean Islands, just recently. Several more in the series are in progress. The enthusiasm for Four Red Banners was amazing, and the many inquiries I received about sequels encouraged me to keep working. I am so grateful to friends, family, and especially my mother for their support as I continue my writing journey!