I have a lot of things that are wonderful when trying to show off.

Then I have the dorky ones like building the world's first fully functional Siamese Rubik's cube that only a few thousand nerds find impressive.

Awesome. Currently doing a phd in Edinburgh. Great place for students, really.

Anyway, on topic:

I know I'll probably sound like a dick, but doing a phd from my experience over the years does indicate intelligence. I've been going to conferences and have also spent quite some time with other phd students and I have to say that the vast majority of phd students is at the very least smarter than the average Joe. Some people confuse immature or idiotic behaviour and borig character with lack of intelligence. Others see nerds acting weird around people and call them stupid, when they simply lack certain social skills. Sure, some of them do say stupid things from time to time, but that doesn't change that they're actually smart.

Coming from a big family and being one of the two cousins who went to uni and the only who did a master's and now a phd, I've noticed quite an effort from my uncles and aunts to show off their children in front of me as if they have to prove something to me. They keep telling me that their children are street smart, not book smart and that that's far more important in life. While I do agree, knowing my cousins, they lack even those skills. It's just a lie that parents tell themselves to avoid admitting that their children did  not turn out to be as great as they had hoped. I also think that most people would easily admit that there's something wrong with their body, but not their character (everyone else has to be wrong) and would never truly admit that they're not smart. They assume that you don't get them because they think in a unique way. 

But to answer your question, doing a phd is not the only reason, but it's one of the more obvious ones. As a student, I've been praised several times for my original point of view and have been told that I have an edge over my classmates (though I do need to work on other things as well). I also tend to predict correctly who the killer is in a movie or possible plot twists (I know this sounds stupid, but I believe that it's at least an indication). Also, I tend to develop strong friendships with several people, even people I don't particluarly like,  not because I'm a good listener, but because I've been told that I get them (though I rarely relate to their porblems, I find it easy to put myself in their shoes and see their point of view and in some cases point out something to them that they hadn't take into account, which in some cases helps them with their problems). I think it's called emotional intelligence and though some would easily dismiss it, I think it's an interesting type of intelligence.

I got a short story published in an anthology at age 11, did extra classes at year 9-10 level when I was in year 5-6, got the highest grade in my state for the national fiction writing competition at age 14, won the national mental health poetry prize age 15, and wrote a 235,000 word novel from age 12 to 18, stopping for a few years in the middle to prioritise school work.

Damn. I wish i had more time to do some writing. Monster Hunter is just a lot easier...

Thanks. :) Since I've been at University I haven't had so much time to write; once you're writing essays and stuff you feel less like writing in your spare time. ;) In the last 6 years I've written three more shorter stories; a 45,000 word one, a 63,000 word one, and a third one that I'm currently up to 30,000 words on and still writing. At some point I want to try to get some of these three published, but I'm worried they're not good enough.

I... Well... I have Advanced Placement Classes! That's good, right? Right?!

High IQ does not always equate to success in life. The rich people in the world do not necessarily have high IQs, half of the billionaires did not even complete high school. Rich people more than likely have average intelligence and IQ did not play a significant role in their success. Motivation, hard work, good people skills, physical attractiveness and luck plays a lot more in being successful than a high IQ i.e. the ability to retain and rote learn useless information.

Was this novel published?

No, it wasn't. I started it when I was 12, it wasn't the most polished piece of literature, haha. XD

I did get several short stories and poems published though.

Woah. I wouldn't mind reading one!