My Life in Letters: W.

Writing.

It’s the other half of my degree, it’s the thing that kick-started any creativity I’ve ever possessed.

I first starting writing when I was 9 years old. One Saturday morning I was bored while my mum had a lie in. Back then, the internet wasn’t really something a nine year old was interested it, so the computer for me consisted of Paint. And that’s about it.
However, on this particular morning the Word Processor attracted my attention for some reason. 
So I decided there and then that I would write a story. Being a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan even at that age, my first paragraph was essentially regurgitated Whedon script, and as a nine year old thinking it was totally cool and not knowing the word ‘plaigarism’ then. 😉
So, what started as a bored nine year old wanting to pass a few hours, turned into my first novel. Which then spawned a sequel and eventually transformed into a trilogy, which I completed when I was 13. 
These early novels were terribly written, but the plot showed potential. I am currently trying to dig through it to find some gems for the basis of an adult rewrite.

From the second I started writing that first book, I decided (and told anyone who’d listen) that I wanted to be an author when I grew up. 
I continued writing through my teen years, starting a handful of projects that I never saw through to completion, but at least continuing to stretch my writing brain.
When I found the course at Bolton University, I decided it was ideal for me. At that point writing had taken a back seat to photography in terms of a career path, but was still a passion of mine and one I wanted to pursue. The course offered me the chance to study both photography and writing together, which was perfect for me.

Since coming to university I’ve steered more into poetry, as the fiction tutor wasn’t inspiring me to try my best, while my poetry tutor was. Strangely, before coming here I hated poetry. I hated how it was taught, I didn’t like the typical overly dramatised representations of it I’d been exposed to and the archaic language I’d experienced with poets such as Shakespeare- which let’s face it, is all you’re ever really taught in high school. 
Since learning it in university however I’ve fallen in love with it. I’ve built myself a good body of work, and I may even pursue getting it published.

In the meantime my fiction has been put on a back burner, but it’s all still there, and I have several ideas to work on in the future. 

Although my career path has changed course a little, I still want to pursue writing, and I still want to eventually get those books published that I so long ago sat down and started writing, thinking to myself “wow this is awesome, I can do anything I want here!”

Eventually, I want to make that girl’s hopeful dream of “when I grow up I want to be an author” a reality. Until then, poetry me up baby. 🙂

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The Da Vinci Code

I’m pretty late to the party, but once I got there, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though this book was released years ago now, as was the film adaptation that followed, I’ve only just read Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”, and only today finished it.

This book gripped me from the first chapter, and soon I found it very hard to put down. It’s a very engaging read, with believable characters and a writing style that feels as if you are reading fact rather than a work of fiction. The plot itself is of course based, at least loosely on fact, and the legends and myths around the conspiracy theories of Jesus Christ and the Church.

This book was incredibly well written- the research Brown put into the backgrounds of each of the topics he touches upon is evidently meticulous. I learnt an awful lot reading this book, which isn’t something I can claim about many fictions. A lot of things I took for granted in the world of superstition and symbolism was put in new light, and it really opened my eyes to a lot of things I already had some knowledge of, but not in its entirety.

Though before even laying eyes on the book, I was a non-believer in Christianity. A non-believer in pretty much all religions actually. I was brought up with Shaman roots, which means my beliefs have been mostly nature-based; what most would consider the “worship” of things such as the Earth, Sun and Moon, I took in a more “appreciation” for those things that give us life.
After reading this book, however, I have become fairly opinionated in my regard for religion and its origin. Especially that of the Christian Church. Though I didn’t care much for it before, this book has certainly changed my dismissal of it, for a feeling of great exasperation. I can say that this book has changed my opinion on quite a few things, and greatly influenced my new way of thinking- again, not something I can say for many books I have read.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning a great deal about art, history, religion and recognised individuals, or simply to anyone who wants to read a good thriller book. This one will keep you hooked.
I’d extend a word of caution to anyone who is heavily religious to read this though; the ideas and suggestions in it may offend some. I’d read it anyway though. You’ll certainly come out of it more informed, and wiser.

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