What I've learnt in 2011

As it’s nearly Christmas, and tomorrow I set off back to Wales to celebrate with my family, I thought I’d do a small blog entry.  I’m now in Christmas mode, which means eating, sleeping and partying.
2011 has been an amazing year for me, particularly the last few months as I’ve gained so much more confidence in my abilities. I’ve always felt that I’d make a good teacher, but when I attended an PGCE interview last year I realised that I have gaps in my knowledge.  Instead of accepting this flaw, I enrolled on English Language modules at the University of Hertfordshire and began studying this year. It is this need to continually learn and improve that I think will make me a great writer.

I joined a 10 week Creative Writing for Beginners class at Oaklands College in a bid to gain confidence in my writing and challenge whether or not I could do it professionally. The course turned out to be, as cheesy as it sounds, life changing. I went into that class as a wide eyed wannabe and left as a budding writer. As well as confidence, I also gained knowledge of the basic skills required for writing.

Finally I did something I never thought I’d do; I joined an amateur dramatics group. My degree was in Drama, so it was something I’d done before, but even during my final year performances I never felt comfortable on stage. The stage and I had a love hate relationship. One day I would go on stage and feel brave enough to give my best, but the next I’d be held back by fear. After years of being in performances just to get grades, I decided to start again and rediscover what I love about acting; and what I found surprised me. Though I do enjoy acting, it’s the stories that I’m drawn to. The stage and your mind are the same. When you read a novel the story comes alive in your mind, but for a play it comes alive on the stage.  Though of course the novel and the play are vital, it’s the stage and your mind that are the fun parts. I’ve re-read the Harry Potter books over and over and I love the openness of the story, because it allows room for the reader to add to the world and live in it. My sister and I have run a Harry Potter Roleplaying forum for about 7 years. Even now, we still go back and write posts as our characters, and this is because, though the books are highly detailed, J.K. Rowling created a framework for us to build upon. She left stones unturned and as a reader we want to turn these stones, even if it means we have to decide what’s under them. This is what makes a great story.  With theatre you are always free to interpret and I think this is something that should be more common in novels; this is what I aim to bring to the industry.