Hundreds of Chapter Ones

As a child I was a dreamer, and I’d like to think I still am.

I was always inspired by books, and as I started learning English at age 5, my horizon broadened with this access to literature in a new language.

From childhood to early teens, I was particularly obsessed with Jacqueline Wilson’s books. She had a way of capturing my imagination with her female lead characters, and their interesting and often difficult lives.

I read and re-read her stories again and again, proudly displaying my collection of her colourful books on my shelf.

Whether it was the rambunctious personality of Tracy Beaker in The Dare Game or the sensible Jayni in Lola Rose, Wilson’s characters made me want to write my own stories.

In my mind I conjured different plots and imagined writing an entire book at the precious age of 11.

“CHAPTER ONE!”

I scratched on the top of a blank page I tore out of my notebook.

I began pouring my vision onto the paper, accompanied by my best attempts to recreate the beloved art on Wilson’s covers illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Somehow, my creations never lived up to what I pictured.

I quickly lost hope, discarding my futile attempts. My naive young self did NOT realize how much planning and hard work go into crafting an original story.

And that is how I ended up surrounded with all of my Chapter Ones, never quite getting anywhere.

Thankfully, I didn’t give up on writing, journaling often in my teen years, which always brought me joy.

And now, at 21, I found Medium! It’s new and exciting to me, and I’m eager to write about the good, the bad, and the funny, as well as discovering my niches.

Hello, readers, nice to meet you!

Nadīna, signing off.