Inspiration

I like to think that everything that a person does is influenced by something in their lives. That without that influence, we would be something completely different. That we would never have done certain things because that influence was not present in our lives.

I'm currently trying to finish my holiday assignments at this very moment and have just completed one of the book reviews I am required to do. As I had my computer switched on, I decided to take a break from the scratching of an old pen across lined paper and instead type up a post for this blog.

Anyway, I am going to list the things that inspire me to like or do a certain something. Not everything of course(that would to take too long) but those things that matter most.

I suppose that this shall have to be considered one of the more serious posts on this blog. But not serious-depressing like some, it is more like that this post will lack the random bits of humour or air-headed sayings that some other posts may contain. Perhaps the next one will be like that? I must stop delaying the post of the tutorial (mentioned in an older post) any further.

I don't think I would like to become a serious writer that only writes for a living as some people have suggested to me. I still do, however, love to write and read and do count it in as one of the most important and wonderful things I love to do.

I shall start with how I began my love for reading.  Reading was sort of an accidental thing, really. I didn't have anyone forcing me to push my nose into a book or anything like that. Back in Kindergarten, we had reading circles and I would get really frustrated because everyone read so slowly. During a trip to Kinokuniya(a bookstore) when I was six, my brother got my parents to buy me Roald Dahl's Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. It was kept in a small bookshelf, never to be touched till a year later.

Around that time, I had entered primary school. A classmate had recommended Enid Blyton's books to me. Being curious, I dragged my parents into a bookstore (MPH, to be specific) and I got two books that day, "The Magic Brush" and "The Brave Little Puppy". I also discovered the local newspaper's comic section.

After my collection of Enid Blyton books grew, I wanted something else to read. I found the abandoned Charlie and The Chocolate Factory on the shelf and decided to read the book my brother had picked out for me.

I loved the book.

I had never read anything like it. Well, probably because I've never read much other than newspaper comics and Enid Blyton. I couldn't stop reading it! It was just so exciting. It felt like someone had pulled me into the Chocolate Factory and I was watching the adventure unfold before my very eyes. It was amazing.

After finishing the book, I got my parents to buy me the whole set of Roald Dahl's books for Children. I remember when I read about how you could travel anywhere with a book in "Matilda", I thought it was the most magical thing ever.

 Before I knew it, I had finished reading them.

By then, I grew bored of just reading the comic sections and went on to reading short newspaper articles and the funny pages of magazines. My books were all dog-eared and some sentences were underlined in pencil from when I tried to teach my toys to read.

I was already seven when a friend told me about The Chronicles of Narnia. I had only read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at that time as I felt it was the most interesting one. Nevertheless, I was absolutely astounded by the wonders of the magical place and a grand lion, Aslan.

This also led to hours of conversation on the phone with said friend as we imagined working for Aslan and the Pevensie children.

Fast forward.

I was nine when I discovered What Katy Did. I had read quite a bit by then and that was the one book that stood out. It was rather humorous at some parts. Though it wasn't meant to be a book made purely for laughs, I felt that the comedic elements was so well-written that I would someday write a novel which had comedic parts that made others laugh as much as I had with What Katy Did.

When I was eleven, I was required to read Oliver Twist as part of the school's literature programme. I absolutely loved it. Sometimes when I re-read the things I've written after having read the book and compare it to the stories I've written before I read the book, I can see the influence and the change in the style and the stories I wrote. In other words, my writing has been greatly influenced.

There are many books that shaped and changed my perspective on reading and writing. I'll provide a little list of some I have not mentioned:

-Ways To Live Forever by Sally Nicholls
-Judy Blume's Fudge Series
-A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
-Diary Of A Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
-The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
-I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells
-Jacqueline Wilson
-Coraline by Neil Gaiman
-Chocolat by Joanne Harris
-Dav Pilkey
-The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
-Topsy and Tim Series by Jean and Gareth Adamson

And honestly, I could go on and on but it's dinner time now.

So today, I wrote about what inspired me to read and write. Perhaps next time, I shall write about the thing I am most passionate about.

No, get your head out of the gutter. I did not mean using the internet is what I love the most.

Honestly, the gutter is full of absolute nonsense and rubbish.