Personal Statement

I have loved English and Creative Writing from a very young age. I am fascinated by the way you can escape from everyday life into books, or construct your own world with creative writing. I am a motivated and enthusiastic student, and have been writing in my spare time for many years. In 2009 I wrote a 250 page fiction novel which drove me to continue with my creative writing as the sense of achievement I felt after finishing it both inspired and influenced my passion for creative writing. I also recently finished my second novel, which has been accepted to be published by Publish America. The novel focuses on the issues of a teenage girl living in a dysfunctional family. Both writing the novel and having it accepted for publication has developed my love of writing further. I am studying A-level English Literature, Sociology and English Language at college. In English Literature I have particularly enjoyed reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte as I felt I could engage with the text and its complex themes. My coursework on Henrik Ibsen and Oscar Wilde gave me the chance to explore my ideas and knowledge of Victorian literature. The skills I have developed from completing the coursework include time management and analytical skills. I have very much enjoyed Sociology, especially the topics on Marxism as it has added to my skills of evaluating the way society works and I feel I can apply this to my creative writing skills. The English Language course has been very interesting, because I have learnt lots of new writing styles, which I can apply to my creative writing. The topics on language change and where different words originate from has been particularly enthralling, as I feel I have been able to add new words to my vocabulary and question where lexis used in the 21st century comes from. Whilst completing my Level 3 Award in Journalism I enhanced my non-fiction writing quality, which I then used in my work for The Daily Echo during my work placement there.

I have written numerous articles on the blog site Wordpress, and one of my articles was published in the college magazine. This influenced my self-belief when writing a diverse range of writing styles and for different purposes. Due to the banding system at school I was unable to take English Literature as a GCSE subject; I therefore opted for self study and passed with a grade B.

I have taken part in various poetry competitions in the past, for example Winchester Library Poetry Cafe, where I won second prize and I have also had poetry and prose published in anthologies with Young Writers and also with the magazine Wordsmith. I won first prize for the Totton College 2012 Creative Writing competition. I was lucky enough to have one of my poems put onto an audio CD and in a textbook, for GCSE pupils in France learning English. This achievement motivated me to continue with my writing.

Alongside my academic achievements I have also completed two weeks work experience at The Southern Daily Echo in 2010 and I had several articles published in the newspaper. I also read out the Daily Sixty Second News on their website. This enhanced my communication skills and confidence. I returned to The Daily Echo in August 2012 for another seven days. This demonstrates my commitment and enjoyment within writing and publishing. I am also employed by Southampton Young Inspectors. We are a group of teenagers who evaluate and inspect services for young people, such as youth clubs and activity centres. Our aim is to help to make positive changes to the community. Being involved in this organisation has developed my social skills and provided inspiration for some of my writing ideas, such as character ideas and topics.

I would say that overall I am a motivated, hardworking and dedicated student, with a passion for writing and a love of reading and I hope to join you in September 2013.