My love for writing started when I was fairly young. I had always been fascinated with the idea of writing for some reason. Even before I had learned the alphabet, I would simply take notebooks and scribble into them to pretend that I was 'writing'. I suppose I was intrigued by the concept. I had also always been an avid reader thanks to my loving parents who regularly read to me and supplied me with plenty of children's books.
As a child, the books I read really stirred my imagination and were actually what encouraged me to start writing stories myself. I thought to myself, if these authors can create such wonderfully enchanted worlds that I can travel to just through words, then words themselves must have some magic to them. That's when I began writing short stories, most of them involving fantasy, fairies and magic. One of the first 'novels' I penned was a 6 to 7 page saga that told the tale of how my stuffed animals used magic to escape an evil witch who had captured them. I then went on to author a 3 page 'textbook' about fruits and vegetables. I don't really know why.
I believe it was in 5th grade that my form teacher Ms Hema took notice of my writing hobby. We had been given some sort of writing task and I presumably wrote a creative short story. When the parent-teacher meeting came up, she told my parents that I had quite a fertile imagination and that I should write a short book to display at the primary school library. Even though this was not really going to be officially published, I was beyond elated at the prospect of getting to show my creations off to my peers and friends.
I started working immediately. I don't think I really planned anything out since I was too excited, so I just started writing. I named it 'Henry's Adventures', and it was all about a boy who discovers that he's destined to be the saviour of a magical realm. The whole thing became a family operation. I wrote the story, and mom and dad helped me type it and add some pictures we found off of Google. I insisted on using one of those clunky graphic art borders they have on Microsoft Word, probably because I'd just discovered it and thought it was really cool. When the document was all done, we went down to our local printer's with a USB and had it all printed. We then carefully arranged the pages into a ring binder with plastic leaves. I was beyond elated to present it to my teacher the next day.
Ms Hema fought with the school administration to make sure we properly 'launched' my 'book' on the stage during one of our daily school assemblies. It was a thrill I won't forget. Maybe some of you fellow nerds out there will relate, but I was a painfully shy and awkward teachers-pet kid who spent most of my time under the radar and completely unnoticed. So this 'launch' event was really my time to shine, and I hadn't had an opportunity like it before.
When I read Henry's Adventures now, I can't help but chuckle a little since I can tell that I let my excitement get the best of me in certain places which resulted in some very obvious plotholes. For instance, one second I declare that a magical horse-less carriage arrives to pick up Henry, and the next I'm saying that the horses begin to gallop. In any case, it's fun for me to look back at this and see how much my writing has evolved and changed.
It's strange, because as a tween, although I was socially inadept and shy, I was very sure of my writing and would jump at any opportunity to show it. Now, in my twenties, I seem to second guess every word I write and am so reluctant to show my work. In fact, it took me years of pondering to even set up this blog to share my stuff. My 10-year-old self would have jumped at the idea of a free platform where I could share my work for the whole world to see. So, in honour of 10-year-old me, I thought I'd share Henry's Adventures right here! You can flip through it using the slider below. Do let me know what you think in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe to be notified when I post!
© 2021 Shreya Alagramam
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