My passion for storytelling has taken many different paths throughout my life.
When I was around seven, I wanted to be an actor, so I went to Swish of the Curtain Theatre School, and then decided I wanted to work behind the scenes and worked the sound and lighting boards at the New Forest Players. After participating in school productions and local village pantomimes, I decided that I wanted to take my creative passion of storytelling into film, which blossomed throughout my Film Studies, Media Studies, and English Literature A Levels before attending AUB.
When I began my degree, I wasn’t entirely sure which specialism I planned to study. I knew I wished to choose screenwriting as my subject area, as I have always enjoyed writing and reading. My love for editing – from the endless iMovie projects I made growing up – almost pushed me, but I knew I wanted to push stories and make films happen in the greater sense, which is captured in the art of producing.
This desire to get a story into the world, linking with my love for storytelling, impacted my developing passion for creative writing. This isn’t something I’ve particularly engaged with on my course, as producing takes a larger portion of my time, yet my own personal projects which I have developed over the years, including my debut young adult fantasy novel, A Royal’s Game, have allowed me to tell the stories I desire without the restraints of deadlines.
When it comes to storytelling and creative writing, my process typically starts with an ounce of an idea. I am inspired by the things I see around me, the music I listen to, the media I watch, my own experiences, and everything in between. I used to be someone who didn’t plan their stories (known as a pantser), and at heart, I still am – when I’m writing, I indeed remain as free and flowing as possible, letting the characters speak for themselves.
As primarily a fantasy writer, I focus on world-building to construct a believable and imaginative world for my readers. But also, as primarily a young adult writer, I let the narrator, which is typically the young adult protagonist, also discover the world as they would see it. I think writing novels from around the age of 12 meant that my own experiences, growing up to be the same age as my protagonists – and now older – has allowed me to understand how, for example, in A Royal’s Game, my 17-year-old protagonist sees and experiences her world.
Young adult is such a special genre to write in. It has a rawness and vulnerability and whimsical nature to it where the stakes are so much higher, not only because it is being read mostly by teenagers who feel things immensely, but also because the stories are so much deeper. Young adult books, I find, don’t try to be something they aren’t. Instead, they focus on the characters more, which is my favourite part of constructing a story.
I always knew I wanted to study at AUB since attending Saturday Arts School in my early teen years. Being on the campus and using the resources and equipment certainly made me feel comfortable and familiar. I remember participating multiple times in the Digital Filmmaking course, and when I now compare the films we made then and the films I’ve made on my degree, it’s nostalgic to reflect on.
My course, BA (Hons) Film Production, has allowed me to explore my passions for producing and screenwriting through balancing actual filmmaking out with evaluative writing to improve our creative practice. The variety of projects I’ve worked on, spanning from dark comedy to experimental nostalgia and thrillers, with the majority of them being written by my peers, has expanded my understanding of storytelling and the stories I wish to tell myself.
I started writing A Royal’s Game in 2019, but I was approached by an independent publisher called Ipomoea Publishing in September 2022 – when I began BA (Hons) Film Production – via my social media platforms, and I signed with them in April 2023. It was published in May 2024, so it feels very connected with my university experience as I have been working with my publisher, editor, cover artist, and beta readers for the entirety of my course. Recently, I was approached by an online magazine called The Teen Magazine who interviewed me for an article, which was very exciting and rewarding. Balancing publishing and working on the sequel, as well as my degree, has been slightly challenging as I want to put 110% into both, but ultimately has taught me how to structure my time effectively.
One project within uni that I am proud of is my production, Time Between Us, on which I was First Assistant Director. Since submitting it, the film has gone on to win multiple awards and nominations at film festivals. I even got to attend my first film festival – Purbeck Film Festival – where it won the Student Prize. Currently, I am working as Lead Producer on my graduation film, Your Life Sucks, Here’s Why!’
My main outlet during my studies is reading, which benefits my writing and storytelling greatly as a form of downtime and escapism. I’ve also found that working my part-time job at Waterstones is a great outlet, as it gives me a chance to still be in an environment of story lovers. I’m local to the area, so I have always enjoyed getting out of the town part of Bournemouth and walking along the beach or going into the New Forest.
One of my favourite outlets, though it can be pricey, is attending concerts. Whether they’re at the O2 in Boscombe or somewhere in London or around the UK, I love stepping away from the uni experience for just a night. University, I think for a lot of us, can get overwhelming, but attending concerts and doing the things I enjoy certainly helps me realise that uni is not as scary as it can feel.
My studies and writing have ultimately taught me that my greatest passion is storytelling, and not necessarily through the medium of film. When I graduate, I plan to study my Master’s in Creative Writing and Publishing. I see myself, hopefully, fingers crossed, working at a publishing house in marketing or editorial, in addition to working on my novels and continuing to publish. A great ambition of mine is to secure a literary agent to open more doors in the publishing world for my writing, which I am currently working towards with a new novel I am writing.
Though I do not wish to pursue film as my central career, I believe I will always be passionate for it as a craft and hope to revisit it in the future — perhaps through adapting my own books into films and TV shows.
