Age 17-19, my writing obsession found its roots in my burning desire to fix the Animorph ending. When one has a writer for a mother, one doesn’t accept a beloved book series’ integrity thrown out the window as a done deal. My mother, however, entrusted the salvation of Animorphs to me, thus allowing me to discover that I was a writer myself. In the beginning, much of my process was hyping myself up for the big job ahead. I came up with a little song, the tune for which is essentially the chorus line “so much for my happy ending” (from “My Happy Ending” by Avril Lavigne). It wasn’t important that the song feel good to anybody but me. The fact was that singing it made me excited about my project, the same way that dancing inexpertly to loud music made me energized for writing. Bear in mind that the following lyrics are meant to be accompanied by the righteous rage of a motivated teen and her imaginary rock band:

Pessimists can stop pretending;

So much for their crappy ending!

(echo) Oooh-oh…so much for their crappy ending…

(Instrumental / random ‘ooo’ing)

Life need not be condescending;

I’ll make it a happy ending!

(echo) Oooh-oh…I’ll make it a happy ending…

(Instrumental / random ‘ooo’ing)

There’s a mess here that needs tending;

So much for their crappy ending!

(echo) Oooh-oh…so much for their crappy ending…

(Instrumental / random ‘ooo’ing)

Optimists don’t need defending;

I’ll make it a happy ending!