I often hear other writers say they started writing very early in life. They say they always wanted to write, and they wrote little books when they were small.

This doesn’t resonate with me at all and for some reason I felt guilty about that. A few weeks ago I was invited to speak about bookish things at the local library as part of the Spring Literacy Festival. It made me think a little deeper.

You see I have had my tremor all my life. So, when I started school and began to learn to write I found it hard. That isn’t a surprise now I can look back as an adult, but at the time it knocked my confidence. It’s not surprising that as a young child I didn’t enjoy writing.

About the time I moved to secondary school I learnt that my spelling was a problem. Again it made me distrust any words I did actually write down. Now we have all heard of dyslexia and even if we don’t understand it we recognise it and I hope we no longer mock people for it. That wasn’t the case when I was at school.

So there you have two big reasons why I didn’t enjoy writing, but boy could I talk. It was another family joke.

By the time I was about fourteen, I started to write poetry. Just in my journal. I couldn’t share it because my handwriting was terrible. I did have a toy typewriter when I was quite young. You might think this would help but I still found it hard to use. I could list a few other things that happened at school that added to the problem, but I don’t want to pass blame. It was the education system at the time.

I only started to learn my way around a keyboard when I was fifteen and started to learn about computers. I feel in love with computers and that was the start of where I am now.

Today computers mean I don’t have to worry about my handwriting, and spelling is less of a worry. Then add in the fact I can now write my stories without having to start at the beginning and work straight through to the end.

It was a bit of a shock to realise that I write stories because now I can. All those barriers and gatekeepers have fallen away and even someone with a brain that works like mine can write a full 90,000 word novel. Batting For Charlie. 

I still need lots of encouragement, but I hope that my story helps someone else try writing. 

I would to know if you have faced any barriers to what you love to do.