By Mahalia Creft

“So, how long do you think it will take to get the book finished?”

I tried my very best not to freeze as the realisation dawned on me… ooooohhhh they actually want me to write a book. This was the reaction I had after attending an information evening targeted at helping individuals start their own business.

I had made the mistake of thinking this information evening was like most others I had attended, in which you sit for an hour, maybe an hour and a half while some guy whose internet connection keeps dropping out presents a PowerPoint with a dead-pan voice. At the end of which I would ask questions I always seem to never write down the answers to before leaving the Zoom feeling like I had just started my self-employment journey without actually starting my self-employment journey. Productive procrastination at its best.

The feeling of overwhelming fear and panic began to take over. This is not what I was expecting, this is not what I signed up for, of course I’m not going to write a book. Although I didn’t particularly have a choice since we had already discussed having one-to-one meetings to check on our progress as well as when our next information evening was going to take place. I had no option but to prepare an outline of a business plan and hope for the best. However, looking back, I think that this was probably one of the best things that could have happened. It forced me to venture out of my comfort zone and move forward with a project that I had mulled over creating for quite some time.

The most nerve-racking part of this experience was feeling unprepared for the project I wanted to start. The one thing that seemed to help was taking everything slowly and progressing bit by bit. I think that’s something that is really important when trying to grow and develop a skill, taking the time to break things down and accepting that everything won’t happen at once, really put my mind at ease when endeavouring on my journey to start writing.

When googling the word growth multiple definitions are given. Google defines it as, ‘the process of increasing in size’, ‘the process of developing physically, mentally, or spiritually, and ‘the process of increasing in amount, value, or importance.’ The one thing that each of these definitions has in common is that ‘growth’ is a process, something that has multiple steps and takes time to come into fruition. For example, something I have found extremely useful while writing is the one-to-one meetings I was initially so terrified of attending. At first they seemed like a place in which every single fault and short-coming I had would come to light but instead they became a way to focus my attention on smaller aspects of the writing process while also allowing me to see the progress I was making.

This made moving forward in the writing process much easier to accept. Writing a book no longer seemed like an impossible feat and although I am still in the process of writing and editing, I have been able to start something that I always thought would only ever exist as an idea.

Mahalia Creft

About Mahalia

Hi, my name is Mahalia. I’m 19 and am currently studying for a bachelor’s degree in English Literature with Creative Writing. When it comes to my hobbies I love everything creative. Music, theatre, beauty, hair, drawing, writing, cooking, baking… you name it! In the future I hope to become an author and also open my own publishing house. (Although I have to think about getting through uni first.)

I am so excited to be a VICTA Strive Ambassador and look forward to creating with the team.