How is it that I became a writer?

I have never really considered myself to be a Writer. I don’t think I will, until I have written something that I think is worth other people reading. I have always written for myself and I have considered it a hobby.

In Negotiating with the Dead, Margaret Atwood mentions that a good many writers have had storytellers in their lives. This is how I was introduced to stories as a child. My grandad told me all kinds of stories and as I grew older, I told these stories and some of my own to my younger sister.

Writing stories, rather than telling them, is something I became interested in as I grew older. As a child, my favourite author was Jacqueline Wilson. After reading her stories, I began to write my own. At first, they were close imitations of Wilson’s stories. I’d changed the names of the characters and their appearances but the plots were very similar. After a while, I eventually began to create my own ideas for stories.

It wasn’t until I began my classes at college that I became interested in other types of writing, besides fiction. We were required to write reviews and magazine articles in one class which I enjoy writing today. Now in university, my interest in writing has become much more enthusiastic, as my course covers all kinds of writing. I think that in time, my writing will become something that I don’t just consider to be a hobby and something that I would be happy to share with others.