No writer emerges from childhood into a pristine environment free from other people’s biases about writers.

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. I didn’t ever set out to become a writer, it was something I’d enjoyed at school and found I was actually good at. (Supposedly - I’m a little judgemental/sceptical about what constitutes being ‘good’ but that’s another story!) I always wanted to be a performer/actor/actress (whichever) and so writing always took a back seat once I’d taken to the stage. I’d always thought that I’d never be able to combine the two as even though I’m female, multitasking is SO not one of my strengths! I did find however, when I was devising a piece of performance in drama, writing was always involved. The creation of an idea had to be written down, and mastered - just like when writing a piece of prose. It was then that I decided, ‘hey, I can be a writer and a performer’. In case you’re interested, so far, I seem to be doing pretty well; it’s a bit difficult to do two major pieces from both, but I’m coping... just!  A lot of the skills involved in the devising process of drama correspond to the process of creativity we all loved so much in year one! 

Anyway, that was just a bit of background into how I decided to be a writer. The reason that I completely agree with this statement is because at the moment I decided I wanted to take writing further, adults lost interest in my future. I’d impressed people saying I’d wanted to go to university, but as soon as I mentioned creative writing, I’d get an ‘oh, how lovely’ or ‘that’s different’ and people would try to move on from the subject as quickly as possible.  This made me try and explain my actions; why I took creative writing, how it’s going to help me. It still didn’t work. In general, adults just couldn’t see why I was doing a three-year course, learning how to write stories. Well, what do they know? Have they ever tried to write a story? A piece of poetry? Okay, they might have, fair point, but are any of them published? No. Well there you go. Have any of them tried to get themselves published? No. They’re not good enough (their words not mine). So if they feel that ‘anyone can be a writer’, or ‘writing’s easy’ why try and put down my course? The problem is, because anyone reads and writes, the art of writing is always going to be put down in the back of the mind. Whether someone reads a piece of writing in awe or not, there’s always going to be a part of the human brain that says - ‘hey! I can write too - no biggie’.  However, you talk to children about learning to write poems and stories and other forms, they look up to you in awe and exclaim: ‘I want to do that!’ There you go Ian, a few more students for you in the years to come. J