A Window to the Past

So when I was twelve years old, I thought I could write. The actual capability of writing words - I had that down perfect. The actual capability of writing a compelling and good piece of writing - not so much.

When I was twelve years, ten months, and twenty-nine days old, I wrote the first three chapters of what would become The Adventures of Charlotte Black: The Legacy (It used to have a different name that I forgot, but trust me, it wasn't any better). I ended up writing "45,000 words" to this story (more like 40,000 because of my long author's notes) and then one day, I reread my story and guess what! It sucked.

I immediately set out to do the impossible: rewrite a horrible story, but well. I mean I was up against a lot. My plot idea itself was bad. Plus, my mind set was horrible.

to anyone (unlike me) who does not worship Gryffindor (Okay, I don't worship it, but it is my favorite house)

-me (when I was twelve)

I posted this in one of my author's notes. I actually had to apologize to a reader for how offensively Gryffindor I was. To me this is hilarious (but if you don't know me, it's not). I'm a Slytherin. When I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter I bought Slytherin robes, ties, scarves, everything. So it's so funny to me that back then I hero-worshipped Gryffindor. I hero-worshipped it so much that I put a character there who never belonged there in the first place!

While I am beyond sad that I lost the last three years of time when I could've been writing to just thinking about what I wanted to do with the story, I'm also glad. Sometimes, we just need time. Even though I knew that something was wrong with my story when I was thirteen/fourteen, I didn't yet have the mental capacity to write it better. I think these three gaps years have given me the time I needed to learn how to fix my mistake. And I'm glad that I learned how.

Charlotte never left my mind, not for a day. Hardly even for an hour. Sometimes, when I'm listening to music, I pretend that in the Harry Potter books and I pretend I'm her, and I've gotten to know her a lot better (as cheesy as that sounds). Over these past three years of silence, a lot has changed. Who I hang out with, what I'm interested in, my opinions, they're all different. But Charlotte had been my loyal best friend who has stuck with me through it all.

-Katherine (SilverDrama)

Sorry, I don't like editing. This post probably sucks to read.