Goodwood

Goodwood

Tuesday 3 April 2012

B… is for… Belief #atoz

When I was a young girl I came face to face with one of those treacherous teachers who denied me, my belief. I was told categorically that my English was atrocious and that I’d never amount to anything. Ever.

Harsh words for a developing teenager. I trust those teachers are a breed that have died out now.

I forgot about writing and went and got on with my life. Then I hit my 40’s and had a yen to write. I never showed anyone those early pieces, because I'm certain those pages are full of grammatical errors.

But undaunted I forged ahead, because I derived personal pleasure from the exercise of committing my thoughts to paper and then… one day I did show my work to a very close friend.

That was the best moment when she yelled: ‘oh my god, you’re a dark horse!’ Made me smile from ear to ear to have such magnanimous praise thrown in my direction.

Encouraged I joined a writing group. I was nervous. For months I never shared my work, but I listened intently to other writers until my confidence grew and then I shared my work with them. Again I received praise. To me this was a revelation.

Inside the safety of this group I grew as a writer, grew braver, and became more discerning. I trusted these people because they did not trample on my thoughts. They helped me to believe that I did have a strong writing voice.

How has your writing developed? Especially if you are a new writer… And naturally I would love to know what inspires you to write?

6 comments:

  1. How awful you had such a poor teacher as to say such a thing to you! And thank goodness you forged ahead and found friends to help you flourish as a writer.

    I'm inspired to write because its escapism! The world as we know it is a mad place. Fiction allows me to take off wherever I fancy, whenever...

    Good post.

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    1. Maria - Thank you for leaving such a lovely compliment and I know what you mean about escapism. I love disappearing into a character's life. I wonder if it is like being an actor? However I have no desire to stand in front of an audience, not yet…

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  2. Hello,

    What a great post! I think this is my new favorite blog! I will definitely be back to see what you dream up for the other letters, and to read more of your lovely writing. I am following now.

    I think we have all had that negative experience with some teacher along the way (mine was the guidance counselor who said I would never get into architecture school--proved him wrong!). Hopefully that teacher's opinion was balanced out with some other good teacher who was encouraging.

    I am doing the A to Z Challenge as well. Take a peek at my blog too if you get a chance! I write humor. (Well, I make myself laugh, and sometimes that's enough.)

    Best,
    MOV

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    1. Hi MOV, ‘Lady Pendragon’ (my nickname for that monstrous woman) has long been assigned to the rubbish tip but she serves a useful purpose. I did pop along to all three of your blogs, and yes you write funny, loved the post about the bitchy comment, very dry! Are you on twitter?

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  3. I'm glad you were able to overcome the negativity of that teacher. Congratulations:-)

    (I hope you don't mind me mentioning it but the A-Z challenge started on Sunday 1st April so you're one letter out at the moment.)

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  4. Hello jabblog, yes I only signed up less than 24 hours ago (before the deadline closed)so I'm going flat out to catch up to hopefully arrive at the same letter as every other participant before it’s too obvious that I'm out of step...

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