Sunday, 27 January 2013

Where are you from? What have you read? How does this impact upon your writing life?

My reading tastes have always been fairly widespread. There is currently no specific author I can pinpoint nor a favourite collection of books that I follow. However, if you were speaking to my 12 year old self, I would certainly have said Jacqueline Wilson. I'm simply a girl from Epsom, Surrey who grew up in a beautiful area with the right mix of city and, on the outskirts, country life. I did not have family issues, nor cripplingly depressive woes, so I did not feel the need to reach out for any books to "ease my pain". I just wanted to read about the lives of other girls my age and how theirs compared to mine, and reading Wilson's work fulfilled that. She would often write from the perspective of the "weird" and "awkward" girl who wanted to be like the pretty and wilder girls. Surely this was felt by almost every young girl out there? It was perfect for me. These books revolved around the protagonist Ellie, who felt she was fat, had bad, uncontrollable hair and wanted a boyfriend. She would spend her time looking at her two friends, Nadine and Magda, envying their beauty and confidence. However, Ellie is creative, intelligent and wise for her age, which she cannot see. Books such as this made me realise that I did not need to sit and watch the world go by, nor feel out of place. Although I read these books at a young age, their influence still lives with me to this day and shaped the teenager I came to be. For that I can only thank you Miss Wilson.

No comments:

Post a Comment