There have been a number of news articles recently about the launch of campaigns which are encouraging children to write. I remember when I was at school I found it really difficult to read out loud in class but loved to write my own stories down – one teacher claiming it was because I had an over active imagination but I prefer to think of it as my creative spark coming through at an early age!
I think that there should be more campaigns encouraging children to create their own short stories. Chris Evans has recently launched the Radio 2, 500 words competition which is a fantastic concept and with celebrities including Richard Hammond and Jacqueline Wilson involved, it is all the more exciting for those who enter.
I can’t help thinking that it’s a shame that many of these stories will be written on a computer. I have nothing against technology but think there is something extra special about a handwritten story drafted and illustrated by a child. Something you can put up on your fridge or keep in a scrap book forever.
When we were little and the weather was terrible our Mum used to put us on the kitchen table with pens, pencils, paints and coloured paper and tell us to come up with stories that we could then illustrate. More often than not I would sit for hours thinking about the plot and what would happen before carefully decorating my masterpiece with first class imagery (more of a mess but I thought I was the next Tony Heart in those days!).
Since the huge success of JK Rowling with her Harry Potter books and EL James with 50 Shades of Grey there has certainly been a notable increase in the number of adults wanting to turn to literacy and write books. I’m not sure if it’s an age thing and that people get to the point where they want to do something different and writing seems like a viable option or if it’s suddenly seen as the next best thing to a lottery ticket.
Either way I think it’s great that people are using their imaginations to bring their own tales to life on paper and I do wonder whether it matters if your stories are published or just for your own amusement.
I remember once reading about a young girl who had been tragically killed in a car accident. When her mother was clearing out her things she came across a book of poems she didn’t know she had. All of them had been hand written by the young girl. Needless to say the book became a priceless treasure and the poems by all accounts were excellent if not heart wrenching under the circumstances.
I would never say never when it comes to considering writing a book but am very aware of the time and commitment it would take, as well as the skill that would be required to write a novel that people would want to read, which is kind of the point if you want to be a best seller!
Nope, I think I’ll leave it to the professionals for now but I will definitely be tuning in and listening to those written by the children who enter the 500 word competition. I’m sure they will put any ideas that I have had to shame. You never know there may even be the next best seller amongst them.