My Childhood Diary: A Young Writer’s First Obsession
Keeping those vital secrets under lock and key!
I still remember my first diary. It was small, with a chunky white pleather cover, with a colorful print of hearts and roller-skates (so 80s). The paper was lined and pleasingly slippery, with gold leaf edges. Most importantly, it was held together with a tiny lock and key.
This thrilled and comforted me. I was a quiet, deep thinker (so I thought) and I had so many secret feelings to express!
When I first received the diary as a birthday present, I diligently wrote all of my vital information on the front page, as well as a warning to anyone who might dare to read it to KEEP OUT!
I felt self-important with power and full of many top-secret stories that the world was dying to read about. I was eight years old.
It all began so well, as with most writing projects. At first, I wrote down my daily habits and adventures regularly.
I remember re-reading them and thinking they seemed disappointingly unimpressive and mundane. Who cared what I had for lunch at school or whether my best friend was being annoying or if my teacher hated me?
I know now this was an accurate foretelling of what life as a writer feels like most days! Grasping…
