By Bernice Loi, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Nothing brings me more joy than building new worlds at the tip of my pen. I love having the freedom to bring characters and places that were once only imaginary to life. Evolving the smallest ideas into stories was exciting; but over time, it became draining as my passion for fiction writing began to diminish. After spending most of my years in elementary school scribbling down stories only to abandon them later when I grew dissatisfied, I realized that I had grown increasingly detached from my surroundings.
Eventually, I lost hope in doing what used to make me feel so alive. Although creating stories no longer made me feel happy, I still couldn’t imagine living without expressing myself through the art of storytelling, leading me to search for the right medium. This inspired me to try another branch of creative writing: journaling.
I unexpectedly found hope in the pages of my diary. Journal writing taught me how to breathe after fiction writing suffocated me for so long. I began dedicating time to reflect and report on the world around me almost every day, helping me stay aware of my emotions and surroundings.
Having a safe space to describe my days in vivid detail and process my feelings allowed me to continue practicing my creative writing skills; but most importantly, I was a lot happier. Spending more time exploring the world around me expanded my outlook on the universe, and I felt ready to give fiction writing another try. A year ago, I began writing a new coming-of-age novel, instilling a new sense of hope for my creative writing career.
Developing new worlds is as complex as living in one. Similar to maintaining good relationships and understanding events in the real world, developing my own unique characters and worlds on paper required me to focus on myself by being more in tune with my surroundings. The self-discovery process I went through helped awaken the inspiration I needed to write my own story, and now I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life.