04
4As of Summer 2017 I became an officially published writer! How, considering a few months before I was taking my GCSEs? First of all, I should let you know that I didn’t do it by myself. And secondly, most importantly, if you set your mind to it, there are so many opportunities.
One of these opportunities was with the Creative Writing Club at school. With Miss Scott, a few other friends, and a specialist in children’s writing, we explored how it is a person goes about writing creatively.
The beginnings were working out how to go about coming up with ideas.
Simple stimuli such as objects like seashells, a keyring, can open up wonderful, detailed, personal stories for the reader to fully appreciate and enjoy more than a fantastical underwater kingdom – the best stories can be the small family working day. What does your family call a remote? What do your family call each other? Even creating lists of things that come to your mind that you like, even a small bit, and pick one or two at random, and produce a descriptive piece about that. It doesn’t involve iambic pentameter, just a willingness to explore how much you can think about one object, thought, or thing.
The biscuits, well, this was just a bit of fun, as the club was. You could chat at the start and people would listen, and you could openly talk about an idea. If you normally are self-conscious, everybody is accepting of ideas, any idea can go anywhere.
And the book. I wrote a couple of pieces that went in there, even involving a train departure board of your life! (It gets quite deep at times, but I feel it makes a point!). The other members also wrote some fantastic works that certainly justify publishing (and certainly are worth reading). Now I know that, should I decide to go into writing in the future, I am a published author, which will help me to have more prestige, but more importantly, to an extent, the club has taught me to embrace my imagination. I thought I was a bad writer, as I couldn’t come up with an idea. Nevertheless, with a simple foundation stone such as a list, or free thought on a page, you can create something that can get you published. Thank you BRIT English!
Creative Writing Club
The club is open to all students in an informal, stimulating environment. For more details, contact Miss Scott.
Creative Writing: Beginnings, Biscuits and Books
by Benedict Williams