by Lauren McDonald ||
When I was a young child, I loved reading. I adored the Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osbourne, and read many Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries. I actually wore a shirt with a literal bookworm on it for my third-grade pictures. However, once I reached 5th grade I started to think I was “too cool” for reading. Although I don’t really remember those years, the change was most likely due to me changing who I was to fit in with those around me.
I told myself I didn’t like reading so much I actually started to believe it. A few years had passed and I only read books required for school at this point. Then the movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians came out in 2010. I was in love with it: the concept, the characters, and just everything about it. Before we saw the film, my Dad – who was a teacher at an elementary school at the time – told me it was based off of the first book in a series. After seeing the movie, I was so entranced by the story that I needed to consume more of it, no matter the platform. Thus, began my first reading of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I read them all with lightning speed, and to this day I have not read a 500-page book faster than I read The Last Olympian, which took me only one day to finish. After finishing that series, I was hungry for another book series to dive into head first. Since then I have been completely in love with reading. That being said I’m still guilty of putting down a book for Netflix, but reading has once again become a beloved hobby of mine. Although I usually stick to YA novels, I do love a good non-fiction inspirational story. I will always respect the classics; such as Jane Eyre, East of Eden, and All Quiet on The Western Front.
My love of reading also sparked a love of writing. All through high school I would start writing stories, only to lose interest and start anew. Although I love reading and writing, I have not been able to do either recreationally since college, purely due to lack of time.
As writers we are usually very creative people, whether we write fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. All require a level of creativity unmatched by those not in the arts. At some point in my life I would like to write/publish a book, and in my years of writing I have, somewhat sloppily, tried to do so. When I look back on my previous attempts at novels, I see them not as failures, but as outlets. I was a teenager who loved storytelling and wanted to have my own shot at it. I had no direction or focus. Instead of actually thinking out, planning, and world building, I was just jumping into these stories gung-ho hoping to stumble upon something that worked. These trial runs helped me grow, each time I would decide to start writing a different story, I would go back to my previous works and read them through. When this happened, I would see areas where improvement was needed and I would strive to work on those areas in my next piece. Most of the time I was the only one editing these pieces, however I would occasionally lend the pieces to my little sister.
Every writer, however much they enjoy their work, has reached a drought in their creativity and hit a block in their writing. Inspiration is sometimes a difficult thing to get a hold of, and even when we find it, keeping it is another ordeal. When I find myself losing inspiration, I look to other things I love. Along with reading books and writing I also love watching TV, and movies. All of these things heavily involve writing, they are just different platforms for storytelling. Though I am consistently inspired by amazing writing I witness, I’m also astounded at the amount of bad writing present in these platforms. There is one show airing currently on the CW network, called Riverdale. This show has grown in popularity, and it is a prime example of good writing gone bad. Season 1 was well done and different from other shows. The creators managed to capture the essence of the Archie comics, while also using great cinematography combined with a Nancy Drew reminiscent mystery. However, season 2 and on have been complete messes. The show not only lost its unique cinematography but also its down to earth feel, instead of doing murder mysteries, they instead focused on drug cartels, cults, weird rituals, and high schoolers acting twice their age. I don’t know how the outrageous occurrences in that show get approved. I am also huge Marvel movie fan, and although those movies have their faults, they showcase the creativity necessary when building and connecting storylines together almost seamlessly.
Still, few things are more inspiring to me than reading a good book series. I draw inspiration from the sheer joy the long story brings. There is something captivating about a story with many twists and turns, and seamlessly woven events. Reading something sparks within me a desire to write the same for someone else.
