When I was younger, I loved coming up with stories. I used to run around our upstairs, fighting mythical creatures, singing to crowds of millions, and ruling over nations. However, I was always most obsessed with the idea of being a rockstar.
I remember the day distinctly that I was sitting in the back of our old truck. I had just turned six, and my dad was pumping gas as I sat with a pink notebook and black pen in my hand. I was particularly creative that day, having come up with a new story that I could see so clearly in my head, and tried my best to get down on paper.
It was about a girl; whose name was Hannah just like me. She lived in California, where exactly I wasn't sure, and she was famous. She had long blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, and she could sing like no other. But Hannah had a secret. Her long blonde hair was a wig because she didn't always want to have to be famous. In reality, the girl, who I didn't name, had long brown hair, and when she wasn't performing for millions of fans across the globe, she was just a normal girl who went to school.
I hadn't worked out all the details, and the story only took up about a page in a half, but I was so incredibly proud of the story I created. I had imagined a character that I looked up to, someone whose life I wanted to live because I wanted to be famous too.
You can only imagine my astonishment when I watched the first episode of "Hannah Montana" when it aired in March of 2006. At first, I was excited. They had heard of my idea! Then, I was confused. Why didn't I get credit? Last, I was angry. I had truly thought that I had come up with the entire plotline to "Hannah Montana," and someone happened to get my notebook and steal it.
I realize now that I probably saw a commercial for it, or had someone tell me about it, but looking back I realize that even though I didn't create the idea, the months after I 'wrote' the story, I was so proud of myself that I kept writing down more of them. After I watched the first episode, I remember picking up my notebook and writing what down would happen in the next episode, just to make sure my notebook wasn't magic. It wasn't.
I have no idea where that book is now, maybe I came up with the plot to "Cory in the House" or "Wizards of Waverly Place!" Thinking about it at 18 years old, that notebook I carried around probably has so many stolen ideas, but even so, every story I ripped off when I was little has gotten me to the place I am today.
I love writing wholeheartedly, it's why I'm writing for Odyssey, and while there are so many other things along my journey that have inspired me to keep writing if it weren't for "Hannah Montana" and my interest in ripping off copyrighted ideas, I wouldn't be writing this today.