10th form ND B1+ Module 3a

A Katy Parker

People are always asking me what I’m going to do in the future and until now I haven’t really known how to reply. It’s difficult to explain that I think my future lies in writing. When I first mentioned it to my parents, they didn’t laugh but they acted as though it was something I would grow out of, and they were confident that I’d get a ‘proper’ job eventually. But I’ve always been serious about being a writer. I just love the English language and I’ve been a keen reader since the age of five. I’ve done a lot of short stories and some have been printed in magazines. What I’d really like to do is write thrillers. I know that sounds crazy, and many people don’t think thrillers are real books at all. But I love a good puzzle, so that’s what I say now. I’m going to be a thriller writer. Then I wait to see the expressions on people’s faces.

B Giles Branson

My dad and my uncle were both journalists and wrote for Sunday newspapers. We always had people in the house who were connected to newspapers and news, and I grew up with their conversations in the background. It must have rubbed off on me because I desperately want to follow in dad’s footsteps and become a journalist too. I don’t think I’d like to do exactly the same as he did – he was a political journalist, because I’m not that serious about politics but I’d like to travel and maybe write reports from different places in other countries. I can see myself writing about environmental problems in Australia or the Sahara or somewhere like that.

C Terry Barnes

When you’re a kid, you have no real idea of what you’re going to be doing in the future. You might have a dream of being a famous footballer or actress or even a princess (that was my younger sister’s strong belief!). But most people don’t really know the sort of person they’re going to be, so how they can decide on a future career at a young age is tricky. I went through secondary school thinking I was going to be a vet, looking after animals, but then I discovered that I wasn’t that keen on cutting up insects, let alone operating on dogs or horses! So, that idea didn’t work out. It was only last summer, the summer before I left secondary school, that I suddenly knew what I wanted to do, and that was to become a writer. I’ve always done drama in my spare time and I suddenly realised that I was pretty good at writing dialogue. So, next term I’m going to start a screen writing course. With luck, one day I’ll be writing the soaps and dramas you watch on TV!

D Sarah Turner

We had a creative writing course at my secondary school in our last year, and I went on it because I’ve liked writing for a long time. I always wrote diaries when I was younger and I also used to write short, funny stories for the other kids in my class to read, and that was at primary school! But it soon became quite clear that I was not going to be the next great English novelist. I’m just not patient enough and I don’t think I’ve got the skill to write complex books. But I am clever with words, so I’m going to go into the advertising world, writing adverts. What you need in that job is to write things that are catchy but short and funny. I think it’s just the right profession for me because there will be lots of variety and I’ll be working in a busy, fast-moving world. Somehow, I don’t see myself being isolated, writing chapter after chapter. That’s not really me at all. But I’m glad I went on the course because it showed us all sorts of jobs involving writing, which is why I’ve made this decision.