The Maker Series Book Post 1

Reading and writing have never come easy.

It started with my patient mother trying to teach me to read, then struggling in primary & secondary school, & finally having my difficulty recognised in college & being tested, only to be told that my brain had figured out how to overcome my dyslexic traits & therefore no support was needed. Which made me impressed with my brain, but, left me feeling lost and that I was just plain stupid. To this day my brain doesn't see what others can. I fear grammar, spelling, and getting it wrong.

So why on earth am I writing a book?

Well, books are fantastically restorative, healing & beautiful things. I read a lot during my illness & books took me out of my current ailment into other worlds. The more I read, the better I wrote. I am not perfect and still get a lot of grammar wrong and still can't see patterns of how things are meant to be, mistakes that come with a lot of shame. On the flip side, one thing that I do love about my brain is that I am a visual learner, and my imagination is vast. Although, horror movies are off limits unless I am feeling particularly strongminded.

I have made whole worlds in my head and did this throughout secondary school and my illness. Although I don't know anyone else who does this (please do reach out if you do!) These worlds I think could be umbrellaed under the imaginary friend phenomenon. The difference is, is that there are lots of characters, locations, and stories/situations that my brain, when bored and or uncomfortable can go to within seconds. I see this in my mind’s eye, rather than in front of me. My mum says I have done this since she can remember and although I don't remember doing it as a child, it makes sense that I continued this through my early adulthood especially when my life was particularly tough.

All in all, I am not going to let my fear of grammar and spelling blindness stop me from writing. Creating a book that captures the excitement of artists, as well as aspects of North Devon will no doubt heal some of my past and current shame.

I must do a shoutout to my selfless mum who still checks a lot of my writing! This was written in Grammarly!