Write your story

“The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.”  

– Anaïs Nin – 

So it is with great pleasure that I can share with you all that I have started writing my book.

This is very big thing for me, as, not only am I a huge fan of books, and have been since I learned to read the age of two (thanks so much for teaching me Ma), but I have also always loved writing.

I loved creative writing growing up, have written a diary on and off since I was 13, and have always had an obsession and fascination with words. So much so, that I used to love reading the dictionary when I was younger. Better still, I used to get excited when I would come across a word in a book that I didn’t know, and would then have a reason to look it up in the dictionary!

I still remember the first time I came across the word demonstrable in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day. He used it to describe the landscape. Such a brilliant word! I also used to love the words I learnt from studying Shakespeare, like oxymoron or onomatopoeia.

I studied English at A-Level and always got A’s in the class for oral work, discussions and debates. But rarely got above a C in my written work, because I didn’t use the correct ‘academic style’, nor would I structure my essays in the right way. My teacher was forever telling me that I couldn’t write in my own style if I wanted to get an A, and I would generally ignore him, because I liked the way I wrote. It was fun and interesting, conversational and creative. Clearly I should have been studying English Language, but equally, I loved studying the books that we wrote about, so perhaps I should have been studying both! My German A Level still hasn’t really done that much for me after all. Well, apart from being able to have really good drunken chats with my beautiful German backpacker friends who I met travelling.

So, the purpose of this post? I have always been nervous about sharing my written thoughts. Despite the fact that people have asked me to write them down and blog about them. And this was especially true just before I was about to set off on my Round the World trip. So many of my friends and family members asked me quite specifically to write a blog about what I got up to and I flatly refused.

At the time, I wanted to be travelling, living in the moment, rather than spending hours a day writing about what I was experiencing. And perhaps more importantly, I have been brought up to be completely and utterly honest and truthful. So, I figured, if I was going to write a blog about my travels, I would need to be very open about my journey, rather than just giving a version of the truth or screening what I did/didn’t want to share.

However, times have changed. I’ve changed. And I have now connected with and embraced my love of writing. So much so, that I started my own blog. And this was a big thing for me. I put it off for months (and my sister will testify to this). And it was only on March of this year that I plucked up enough courage to actually start to articulate my thoughts, views, stories and ideas and be bold enough to pop it up on the t’interwebs for everyone to see. I was scared of being judged, scared of it not being very good, frightened that no one would want to read what I had to say. But I did it anyway, in the hope that I was wrong.

And most importantly, I started my blog with intention. Another reason why I put off writing it for so long. I wanted to make sure that I was doing it for the right reasons. I wanted to make sure that every post was written with purpose. That my blog would mean something to people. That my blog would have the capacity to inspire people to do things they’ve never done before or make positive changes in their lives. And it was only when I got clear on this intention, could I start to write.

And to the book. The book is the blog that I never wrote. The book is an account of the magical mystery tour that my life was between October 2010 (starting the week before my 30th birthday) up until the end of last year December 2012 (when I got my sponsorship and visa to be able to stay in the UK).

I have always wanted to write a book. I have always loved books and have always been inspired by them. And I am so excited to be writing a book that will hopefully inspire others.

So, in short, if you want to start a blog or write a book. Do it. Write your story.

Inspiration for this post

Me 🙂