Whether it be for an essay given by a monsterous English teacher or an application that could impact the next four years of a student’s life, we all must write. Poetry, essays, stories; it all has been done; is being done. However, how many times has a person taken ten minutes out of their very busy day to write something that is not required, not needed, not given and continuing it to the point where they feel satisfied with the ending.
Using creativity is hard; it is difficult to begin writing. That first line leading to the first paragraph can be the agonizing. On the other hand, how do you hold back words when you want to write so much more than the word limit allows? Sometimes I become so obsessed with writing that I end up procrastinating homework, and not listening to my teachers. Instead, I am taking ‘notes’ and working on a masterpiece; all of my free time becomes dedicated to my new personal project. Having such a thing happen is harsh yet wonderful; it is the story of a writer. It is my story.

Beginning my novel started as a short story. I sat there wondering what to do with a blank word document and an out-of-the-box prompt. I began writing, hating the story, and keeping the characters one dimensional. Quickly, I came to a good stopping point; leaving the story with a cliche ending. Eventually, I showed it to a teacher, who fixed my grammar and punctuation mistakes which I was very prone to making. She read until the end and loved the plot, and my extraordinary idea, but she hated the ending. I was told to write more, that there was more potential in my short story.

Initially, I deleted the ending, added to the beginning, and tried to come up with a resolution. Days, became weeks and I had worked my way up from two pages to five, yet I had no idea where my story was going. There was no established beginning, middle, or end. Cluelessly, I kept writing and came to the point where I had no idea what else to do. I had slept later, and later, for weeks from working on the story. Now everything revolved around my writing. Whenever someone said an interesting phrase, I made a mental note to add it to the story. If I read a new word or saw a synonym for ‘said’ in a book, it may end up in my writing. I even started carrying a small notebook everywhere, I wrote notes, ideas, and anything that caught my attention. The book became my basis for ideas, the “mother” of my story.

Having been working on my novel for months now, I suddenly could not write anymore. I could not think of any way to make the novel interesting; it was the inevitable writer's block. I hadn't worked on my writing in three to four months, I had nothing to write. Beginning to feel disappointed that all of my hard work would go to waste, I was determined to continue. Asking some trusted friends and teachers, the novel started developing again. With a bit of a boost, I went from writing nothing to writing pages weekly. My short fictional story which I had no thought to extend had become a work-in-progress novel.

My story is that I am a writer, and writing has impacted my life tremendously. From writing random thoughts to writing about an imaginary friend, writing had become a daily habit. It is now part of me: I am a writer. I cannot wait until I am distracted with words again, lost and in love with a story.