In 1996 I entered a story
competition. I wrote a story which would be the ancestor of Havensbridge Falls
(Although all that survived that story was the premise of a camping trip and the
old man George Cullen). It reached the final but alas failed to win.
The
story that won was a tale about Music and how important it was to somebody’s
life. And with that it click. I knew exactly what type of story the judges were
looking for. The winner would really be the person that created the most emotion
with their words as opposed to a story that would be along the lines of
thrillers, or mysteries, etc.
Two years later, the competition was run again. And I knew exactly what I was going to write. I knew exactly what they were looking for. And I said to myself, ‘If I didn’t win it this time and wouldn’t even bother writing a letter again, let alone a story or a poem.’
I
wrote a story, which was inspired by the Character and Strength of my Aunt Essie
McDonald, who had died that year of Cancer.
I
can still remember that morning in September, getting up to go to college, or
more so being woken up by my Mother. It was 5 Months after I had entered and
there had been no news back on the results. The Vice-Principal of my former
school had called. ‘No Time For Tears’ had won.
Belief
in what you do can be such a hard thing to accept sometimes. The story had been
written for the purpose of impressing the judges and winning the competition.
And it had done just that. But actually believing in myself that I could nurture
this potential has drifted by more often than not.
Maybe
it’s time for me to look back on the story, the time in my life, the moment
that it was. Maybe it’s time to believe I can actually do this.
Write.
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