Books, books, and more books! I think it’s stating the obvious when I say that I adore reading. To me, reading is like breathing air – I can’t live without it. I need my fix of stories.
I find it funny though, because when I was younger, I hated reading. During summer holidays, my mother would make me read books, which annoyed me. I never wanted to read. All I wanted was to go outside and play. So, I faked reading the books she gave me, which she eventually found out. Needless to say, she was frustrated with me. She loved literature and wanted me to experience the amazing world of books and fiction the way she did. Once I reached the fourth grade, I started to take an interest in books.
Starting in the fourth grade, I discovered the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. I had already watched the movies, but I was not aware of the books until then. So, I got my hands on the first book and read it in one day. I was hooked. I didn’t know that reading could be so fun. It started off as a like, but it quickly turned into a love. The entire year, I read all of the Harry Potter books and loved every chapter, every page, and every word. It would transport me into a world of fantasy completely different from my own world. Reality would fade into the background until all I could see was Harry Potter, the man himself. Reading became an escape for me, somewhere I could cocoon myself in whenever times were tough.
During fourth grade, when I was reading the books, my homeroom teacher gave the class an option: we were allowed to write and present stories to the class as an activity. It wasn’t for marks; it was purely for fun. Immediately, I was intrigued. Of course, I had to give this writing activity a shot. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it. I wrote the most stories in my class. Even when I started the fifth grade, I was allowed to write and present my stories to the class. I remember one of my classmates once saying, “Yes! I love her stories!” I couldn’t believe that my classmates actually liked what I was producing.
When I started seventh grade, one of my best friends introduced a website to me known as Wattpad. It’s a site where people were able to write their own stories for others to read. It was worldwide and it was free. I was beyond excited and downloaded the app on my iPad immediately. At first, I was only reading other people’s stories, but I was so tempted to start writing my own. Eventually I did, though they were merely fanfictions. Man, I’m so embarrassed of them. At the time, I was only writing for fun; it never occurred to me that maybe I could be a real writer someday.
The thought didn’t come to me until I started high school, when my English teachers complimented me on my writing skills. I had written a poem about a mythological creature known as a siren for an assignment. My English teacher asked to see me the day after I handed it in. She told me she loved the imagery and the descriptive language I used to describe the sirens and the atmosphere. She had even shown the poem to other teachers, who had also praised me for what I wrote. It was then I realized I wanted to become a serious author. When I realized this, I knew I had to stop writing silly fanfictions and start creating my own characters.
It seems kind of silly for me to say, but it was almost terrifying to leave my comfort zone in fan writing. But after I started creating my own original characters, the fear slowly faded and was replaced with excitement. When I was planning out my first ever main character named Jack, it became so real to me. The boy I created was starting to come to life. Then, my story came to life: Enchanted Gold. I knew right away that I wanted to write fantasy stories. Ever since my first experience with Harry Potter, the fantasy genre became my most favourite. My characters are like my children! It’s simply the magic of writing.