To Those Who Loved My Writing
Never hesitate to encourage others; you never know who you will inspire!
For anyone who is creatively-inclined, support is crucial. Sure, you should always write for yourself, create drawings you love, photograph what you want, but support allows you to remember that your creativity can touch people other than yourself.
I didn’t always know I wanted to write. Back in school, I procrastinated on writing essays just as much as the next kid. Essays that had more creative freedom gave me better grades than research and more rigorously structured essays, but writing never dawned on me as something I wanted to do until after high school.
Yet, there were always people who supported my writing, even if I didn’t realize it back then.
So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving for this month, here’s a thank you to those who, before even I knew it, supported my writing from the very beginning.
To my fourth grade teacher, who surprised me by reading aloud my Christmas essay, who showed enough delight that my writing voice was evident through my words by pausing in the middle of my essay to ask everyone, “Doesn’t that line sound just like her?”
To my seventh grade history teacher, who gave me stellar praise for my essay on Cleopatra, who called my first-person autobiographical piece set in the afterlife as inventive and creative.
To my tenth grade English literature teacher, who challenged my class to rewrite the ending of a novel from a single line, who point-blank told me I should be writing for the school newspaper and gave me several book recommendations after the assignment was done.
To my mother, who patiently gave me hot chocolate during those late nights writing said essays because of my procrastination tendencies, who listened with rapt attention as I read aloud parts of my X-Men fanfiction, who continues to encourage my writing even now.
To my father, who does not really understand all of the business aspects that go into writing and publishing but does his best, who was the one that found the advertisement for the writer’s group I’m in, who is always on the lookout for anything that could help boost my writing through advice and contacts.
To my older sister, who always asks about my writing, who shares a love of reading and fosters that love in my two nephews, who always enjoyed hearing my plot ideas when we were younger.
To my younger sister, who enjoyed my old fanfiction enough to join me in this writing adventure, who makes silly faces over our laptops at me during our writing days, who continually pushes and breaks those fictitious limits that would have otherwise hindered the growth of my writing.
Thank you.
I hope to also share this support with others and be someone who encourages rather than hinders creative growth.
This was originally published on my Medium page.