In my opinion, the greatest pleasure in life is putting my pen to paper, and letting the ink run all over, setting free all of my ideas, my dreams, and my fantasies. From those ideas and dreams, I am able to create completely different worlds, different realms filled with unusual characters and entities. Within these unique realms, I can become lost in the excitement that I only I can create. For me, creative writing is my main form of emotional release. It is my way of speaking without ever having to open my mouth. To me, the ability to create a one-of-a-kind universe with merely a ballpoint pen and a blank sheet of paper is the greatest talent one could obtain; a talent that I find to be the most entertaining.

It started at the age of five. My mother picked up a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit, which remains as one of my favorite books of all time. I lay in my bed patiently, listening with attentive ears as my mother read the enchanting story of a stuffed rabbit that magically became real through the unconditional love of the young boy who owned him. The story became stuck inside my mind and it amazed me how someone could make up such a story, make copies of the story, and distribute it to young children such as myself. It amazed me so much, that it inspired me to write my own fictional story.

During my time in kindergarten, we kids were given an opportunity to write stories, sketch our own crayon illustrations, and publish one little copy for our personal use. I took advantage of the opportunity, and I began my strenuous thought process about what kind of captivating story I could write. And then, my story was born. I went to work, and I used the child-friendly computer in our classroom to write what I perceived to be the best story anybody would ever read. It was about a lonely toy dinosaur, whose only dream was to be bought and loved by someone. A little boy then bought him and he played with him for many days on end. They spent so much time together, that the dinosaur eventually came to life, and they lived happy, joyous lives as best friends. I remember being so proud of my creation, and feeling that I had true talent. I excitedly called upon my teacher to help me print out the story and publish it, stapling together the paper to make a little booklet.

I anxiously returned home soon after, and I immediately gave the story to my mother to read. After carefully reading the well thought-out story, she sheepishly smiled and gave me a big hug, telling me it was a wonderful story. At the young age of five, I felt like a true author. However, it wasn’t until I was twelve that I stumbled across the little booklet again. After dusting it off and reading it one more time, I came to a humorous realization: my story sounded a lot like The Velveteen Rabbit. I realized I had directly copied the plot of Margery Williams’ classic children’s book.

Since then, I have written other short stories, and I still continue to write when I have time. I have written a variety of stories, most notably a horror story I had written my freshman year of high school for my honors English class. It remains as my most treasured story to date. Not only was it one of my best in regards to the writing, but also because of its length. Spanning ten chapters, it is one of the longest I had ever written, a personal achievement in which I hold the most pride.

And I came up with the plot all on my own.