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Dalton Chadderdon

Mrs. Layton

English 1010

14 September 2018

My Nostalgic World of Writing

I like writing. I think. Yes, I do like writing.

Writing has changed and shaped who I am today. My whole life I have enjoyed it. At

some points to a higher degree than others, but overall, I’ve always found some pleasure in

writing. At one point I actually wanted to be an author. That time has gone, but the love I had for

it still remains.

My earliest memory of writing was when I was about seven. I had had a dream one night

that there were giants living in the basement of my next door neighbor. It was so vivid, and it left

this impression on me. I woke up and immediately I began writing a story about the dream. The

first sentence was “Pop! Mikes toast popped up.” I suppose that was the first time I thought I

might like to be an author someday.

Thereafter I wrote probably every day for the next four or five years. Stories, journal

entries, little poems or songs. It was definitely my hobby. However, I was never any good at it;

in the sense that I couldn’t, for the life of me, finish what I started. I would write maybe a

chapter of some grand novel I had brewing in my mind, and after one chapter down, I would get

bored or distracted and start up on something new the very next day. Eventually, this extreme

passion for writing died away, after I got older and distracted. In fact, I would say that I was

brainwashed to a certain degree. Brainwashed into thinking writing was uncool or nerdy, by
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friends who hated school and English and reading and writing and all. Maybe that’s why I

stopped.

Well, I didn’t stop completely. I still write all the time. And it feels good. Writing, typing,

producing these stories out of this deep imagination of mine. I’ve come to realize that there is

nothing wrong with writing for the fun of it. It is actually super enjoyable.

Along the way I picked up a passion for books. Not reading, but books. Don’t get me

wrong, I still loved reading, but the real drive and excitement came from books in general. The

idea of them. It takes me back to this old, old bookstore back in a rundown town on the east side

of Kauai called “The Bookstore.” I would go there every Friday night, down to the town to listen

to the street performers and walk through art galleries. And always I would step into that old

bookstore. I loved the smell of 1,000 old books on these old wooden shelves, and the people and

the old pages and the stories that I knew where in the books. It was during this time that my love

for books began, and thus a love for reading.

Eventually, like my passion for writing, my passion for reading faded. I slowly came to

find it hard and boring. I couldn’t finish a book, ever. The last book I read all the way through

was probably “The Cay” back in 8th grade. Since then I’ve read fragments of books for school,

or have started books and never finished them. But through it all I’ve kept my same feelings for

books in general. I like the smell and the look and how it feels to have one in your hands and turn

the pages. My love for ​books s​ till remains.

In my opinion, writing is one of the greatest forms of art. You read a sentence and a

whole flood of beautiful memories comes rushing to your mind. Sometimes the thing that makes

a good song is the lyrics. I can enjoy songs with lame tunes if the lyrics are truly poetic or strike
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a feeling within me. It’s the pure nostalgia of words, and language. Language is the most

extraordinary of human creations. Without it we wouldn’t be who we are today. We

communicate ideas and stories through language. It’s amazing.

Writing introduces a whole new dimension to our world. It can be used practically, for

writing laws or posting announcements or street signs. But it can also be used to express

emotions and desires. It is literally imagination in a physical form. There are no limits. Writing is

an important aspect in everybody's life. Once again, writing has changed and shaped who I am

today. And I believe that’s true for everyone.