"You can do so much more, so much better. Why do you want to become a writer?”

Written By: Saloni Gupta (My Writer Story)

“You want to become what?” My bewildered aunt asks me.
“I told you. I want to become an author, a writer once I grow up.”  I answer casually, unaware that I’m being mocked at.
Rishav, my twenty year old cousin standing just beside me, smirks. “You seriously got ninety five percent in your boards with such high aims?”
My aunt gives me a worried glance. “Why? You can do so much more, so much better. Why do you want to starve yourself?”
This whole conversation confuses me. I’ll be starving myself if I become a writer? Wow, that’s new.


My aunt begins about how my parents are respectable doctors, and my brother an ultra rich engineer.
Slowly, comprehension dawns on me. For some people, and majority at that, if you’re not a doctor or an engineer or lawyer et al, you don’t deserve much respect. This belief which majority Indians seem to have, irks me. I end up having a full fledged argument with them, explaining them my point of view for over thirty minutes. My aunt only says in the end, “Don’t know why you want to waste a good brain.” What a prize for my efforts.

Why I want to become what I want to become

I wanted to be a writer since the time I was eleven.
Being lost in Enid Blyton’s Famous Fives, experiencing staying in hostel through The Naughtiest Girl series, imagining a guy taking me to Prom night because of the Princess Diaries- books had been my world since the very start.
I wanted others to feel that magic too, and thus I wanted to write. When I took a sheet of paper and picked up my pen, words flowed effortlessly. Thoughts I could never bring out verbally easily poured out on paper.
That is the time I realized what I loved doing the most. And I would do exactly that. I couldn’t care more about fifty such aunts and cousins of mine.

High school, the changing point

When I entered high school, I started taking this hobby seriously. I began writing a blog with my friend, and we submitted short stories and poems on various websites and online magazines. Some of our articles made it, some did not. But we kept writing and improving.
I started feeling that I could write better than most, and became encouraged. My essay scores in school were among the highest and English teachers loved me. My blog started picking up and I got paid for an article I submitted to an online magazine.
My parents beamed, “Earning at your age!”
I simply loved how life was going.

When my cloud nine burst

Then, when everything seemed to be going too happy and well, I felt the bitter pangs of failure.
 I was not selected as an editor for my school magazine. The school magazine was something very dear to my heart, and I had dreamt to be its Chief Editor. But now, I wasn’t even a representative.
 How did I even expect to become a world renowned writer when I couldn’t even get recognition in something as small scale as a school magazine? I began doubting my capabilities.
My own fellow mates had written better articles than me. How huge was the competition? Where did I stand? Clearly, no where.
After days of shedding tears and self pitying, I got a grip on myself. One failure cannot do this to me, I told myself.
I started reading more good books, started taking part in myriad competitions with greater determination now. Failure had made me angry. Now, anger was driving me to improve.

Thank God I failed, I’m better now!

After a couple of months, I won a creative writing district competition in which about five hundred teenagers had participated. My photograph came out in the newspapers and I got a chance to meet Jug Surya, a popular columnist of the Times of India.
It was a big achievement, no doubt, and I was proud of myself. My hard work had paid off and I had got my confidence back.
My aunt called to congratulate me for my success. “Well, guess I was wrong. If you’re doing so well at sixteen years of age, you’ll do superb when you grow up.”
This time I smirked. “Right chachi! Perhaps even better than doctors and engineers?”
“Yeah, yeah, congratulations,” She said shortly.

Why is this story not complete?

I’m still chasing my dream. This story is an incomplete one because, certainly, I’m not on my deathbed right now. I have much more to achieve, much more to accomplish. I still have to change the opinion of the people.

Writing has already given me so much. Somehow, I feel it’s made me different from the rest of my friends. It has brought magic into my life. I’m brave enough to follow my heart, without knowing if I’ll be successful or not, because as Eleanor Roosevelt already said:

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” 

 About the author:

Saloni is an eleventh grade student studying in La Martiniere Girls’ College, Lucknow. She is sixteen years old and has a flair for writing and debating. She writes for her school magazine, takes part in various poetry writing and creative writing competitions and also writes a blog. She loves taking part in co-curricular activities and performing on stage is her passion. She is a good student and has always done well academically. Currently, she has taken up Science along with Mathematics and Psychology as her subjects.

Saloni is an extrovert and is fond of making friends. She loves reading and always has a book in her hand. Her family means a lot to her and is incomplete without her dog, whom she loves to death.

7 comments:

  1. Keep up the good work. And for any help regarding freelance writing feel free to post on the IFW page on facebook. :)

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  2. Inspired to see someone writing so well at really young age.Perhaps the hard work and dedication has paid off.You have a bright future waiting in the writing industry.

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  3. That is realy superb , one person can encourage you in such a situation is only you , n you did that ,all the best

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  4. This is really great. Writing might have different purposes for different people but the essence you get out of it is always the same, God Bless girl!

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  5. Stupendous! Very well written :D

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  6. Great going Saloni...i second your thoughts on - 'what can't be expressed verbally, flows out of the pen...even i love this world of books and aspire that as a writer even my readers should feel the same :) :) Do read my debut novel 'Romantic Resonance' - would very much like to hear about it from u...u can get it at flipkart/infibeam/amazon/snapdeal... :) cheers to writing!

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