As a youth, Marjory found solace in reading, and eventually she began to write. At sixteen years old she contributed to the most popular children's publication of the day, St. Nicholas Magazine—also the first publisher of 20th century writers F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rachel Carson, and William Faulkner—with a puzzle titled "Double Headings and Curtailings". In 1907, she was awarded a prize from the Boston Herald for a story titled "An Early Morning Paddle", about a boy who watches a sunrise from a canoe.[10] However, as her mother's mental health deteriorated, Marjory took on more responsibilities, eventually managing some of the family finances and gaining a maturity imposed upon her by circumstance.[11]