Late Bloomer: My Journey from struggling to read to writing fiction

It took me a long time to gain momentum in improving my reading and writing skills, but there is no such thing as too late or too early when it comes to learning anything. Everybody progresses differently, and I would like to share how I developed my reading and writing skills that seemed impossible to me as a child, and how I overcame my barriers through my desire to become a writer.

I wasn't a strong reader growing up because I was considered, by some, what they might informally refer to as a ‘late bloomer,’ which, in technical terms, is a cognitive delay. I wanted to improve my reading, but I struggled to stay focused because my attention span was limited. I knew I would learn to read better someday, but it took me a long time to develop an interest in reading until I reached my early twenties. You may be asking, why have interest at all if reading wasn't one of my strengths? Well, how was I supposed to learn to read better if I didn't read? I believe, like everything else, learning occurs when you have an interest in something.

For some reason, even though reading was a challenge for me, I was interested in books. I remember grasping at my sister's books, not reading them, just looking at the front and back covers, flipping through the pages like shuffling through a Rolodex. There was just something about books that gravitated toward me that I couldn’t identify. For some reason, I was compelled to hold onto a book and look attentively at it without reading a word except for the title and maybe the author’s name if I could sound out the letters, but no more than that. I was especially drawn to books based on movies. My sister read a lot of Stephen King in her youth, so I would often see books lying around with his name on the cover. I was aware of Stephen King, but I’ve only watched his movies such as “Stand by Me,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” and “Pet Sematary.” I was intrigued by those movies, so naturally, I would be fascinated to read the books they were based on, but I couldn’t. I have tried reading “Pet Sematary,” but couldn’t get past the first page.

Of course, at a young age and under the circumstances, those types of books were too advanced for me. While I was forced to practice reading simple stories in school, my class were scheduled to read silently for fifteen minutes every morning. Even some of the books I picked out from the selection, I couldn’t read all the way through, though I stumbled upon some with cool pictures that kept my attention. One day, I spotted a chapter book titled “Home Alone: Lost in New York” in the classroom reading selection. I was surprised to see this, considering that I loved the Home Alone franchise. I said to myself, “I didn’t know this was a book.” It turns out somebody wrote a chapter book based on the plot of the Home Alone sequel, not the other way around, like I initially thought. I picked out the paperback, and I’ve read past the first page, but I didn’t stop there. I ended up reading past the first chapter, then I kept going. I ended up reading the book every day during silent reading. I was so heavily into it that I lost track of time. When I put it down, everyone in class was working on their subsequent assignments. Nobody seemed to have noticed I was still reading even though the fifteen minutes of silent reading were over, so I picked the book back up and kept going. As the weeks went by, I ended up reading the whole book all the way through. It wasn’t long, but it was the very first book I’ve read from beginning to end. Even though I got stuck on some of the words, I’ve kept on going because I was familiar with the story. I’ve watched the movie every year around Christmas time throughout my childhood and, up to this day, as an adult. My point is, because I know the movie so well, I was motivated to read the book version despite my reading challenges.

I remember at school, my EA introduced me to another book when I was in sixth grade. “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Lewis Stevenson. This, of course, is a very well-known book, but I didn’t know of it at the time, and I thought it looked interesting. This version had spectacular, well-detailed illustrations, but I could only get through two or three pages. The vocabulary may have been too advanced for my level, but I enjoyed the black-and-white sketch pictures on the pages, so I just focused on those instead of the text. I looked through the whole book just by looking at the pictures more than once, and I ended up inventing a story of my own based on the images I’d seen. I visualized the characters in these two-dimensional scenes and made-up situations that contributed to the illustration in a live-motion sequence, as if I were watching an old black-and-white movie in my head—"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”—Jordo’s version. Although the plot was all over the place, it was enough to satisfy my entertainment. I’ve visualized many movies in my head; some I have made up without looking at illustrations or pictures. If watching movies wasn’t enough to satisfy my entertainment needs, my imagination certainly was. I’ve made up a ton of stories in my head. Some in the form of movies, others I’ve actually written in school. The same EA who introduced me to “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” had encouraged me to write stories ever since I wrote one about a man with super strength who saved an entire city from an earthquake. Well, I told the story while my EA wrote it down. Ever since then, I have developed an interest in writing stories. Though I couldn’t write at the time, I knew this was what I wanted to do for a living. Become an author and write books just like the ones scattered all over the living room coffee table and other various areas of the house.

Maybe this is the reason why I was so intrigued by books. I subconsciously wanted my name and my picture on one of those things, whether hardback or paperback. I just wanted to be an author, but of course, I had to learn to read better and write better. As I got older, I improved my reading and writing skills quite a bit. In high school English, I wrote stories with long paragraphs. My teacher was always impressed to see the lined paper filled with words that spanned over a page. I might have actually written five pages, which is the longest I’ve ever written. When I tried to write something in my leisure time, I hadn’t completed nearly as many pages. Even though I could write multiple paragraphs, I didn’t have the motivation to do so. Just like I didn’t have the motivation to read multiple paragraphs, but to become a good writer, as I’ve often been told, I had to read books more often. Because it was difficult to motivate myself to read or write, I concluded that writing may not be for me. Somewhere down the line, I decided to go to college and study photography. For some reason, I suddenly developed an interest in becoming a professional photographer. I don’t know why. I may have thought back then that it was an easy profession to get into, so I looked up some courses on a college website. As I looked through the programs at this community college, I saw that a Script Writing course was available in the film and television program. I was intrigued by this option because I could learn how to write screenplays. I reflected that maybe a novelist isn’t what I’ve been interested in all along. I thought that because I often envision movies in my head, like my re-imagined version of “Jekyll and Hyde,” I was actually interested in becoming a screenwriter. I immediately applied for the course. I have learned a lot about screenwriting in my film and television course, and I think it has given me the skills and knowledge to become a better writer in general. I’ve written multiple screenplays in my spare time with the knowledge I’ve gained in my scriptwriting class. It was my mission to make them all into movies, so not only did I want to be a writer, but I also wanted to be a director, which was another skill I needed to learn that I did not get a chance to learn at college because I was only enrolled in one Film and Television course. I’ve learned a little bit about directing in my Cinematography class in my second year of college, but there weren't enough tools provided to help me hone my skills as a film director. I had to educate myself, which meant I probably had some reading to do. I asked my parents to buy me various books on filmmaking, directing, screenwriting, and related topics. With this new interest, I was motivated to read more, and I successfully read every book I’ve received on filmmaking to the end. I have learned a lot, and I was able to follow the text because I was naturally interested in the topic. I had an urge to challenge myself more, however. I wanted to thoroughly educate myself and study subjects I didn’t have the opportunity to study in high school. I studied History, Science, etc., on my own time because I figured that, to become a good filmmaker, I needed to be knowledgeable. I developed a habit of reading nonfiction every day. This amount of reading has eventually reignited my interest in fiction, because if I’m writing fictional stories for movies, it makes sense to read fiction novels, so I started reading “Under the Dome” by Stephen King. Despite the length of that door stopper, “Under the Dome” was the first Stephen King novel I had read all the way through. Sure, there were some words I skipped, but I kept going. I’ve even researched some of the definitions of unfamiliar words I’ve come across in the book. It was a good way to enhance my vocabulary, so I continued reading fiction. Luckily, my sister is a big book fan, so she recommended many books by some of her favourite authors for me to read. One of whom was Ken Follett, who is a historical fiction writer. The first book I read by him was The Pillars of the Earth. Another door stopper. I was deeply engaged with that novel, though it took me a while to finish because of its length. Again, I struggled with some of the words, but I pressed on and kept looking up definitions of unfamiliar words. I realized that I learn just as well from historical fiction as from general fiction. Eventually, fiction was all I had been reading and given the influence and inspiration of the many authors I’ve read, my interest in writing novels has returned. I’ve switched back from wannabe screenwriter to wannabe novelist because reading was the missing link to what I wanted to accomplish in the first place. It just took me a while to find my interest. I’ve learned to read much better because of it, and it certainly helped improve my writing. I abandoned my dream of becoming a filmmaker and started pursuing a career in fiction book writing. I haven’t abandoned the stories I wrote for films, however. For some reason, I still hold onto those tales and eventually will convert them into novels rather than screenplays. Some of which I am still working on today.

Since becoming a bestselling author like Stephan King and Ken Follett was not a guarantee, I decided to go back to college not only to satisfy my newfound desire to learn, but also to earn some credentials that could land me a stable career. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do for a living, but I ultimately decided to pursue a career as an Educational Assistant to help students improve their learning, much as I did in school. I am now working as a full-time Educational Assistant at a high school in the Public School Board. My primary mission as an Educator is to guide students in developing their strengths by encouraging them to explore their interests and curiosities, especially for those who struggle with reading and writing, as I did. If anybody reading this is going through or has been through a similar experience, whether you are a ‘late bloomer’ with an interest in reading but a lack of motivation, it’s not too late to start. As the saying goes, it’s better late than never. Try reading something with visuals as a start, like a graphic novel or a comic book. Maybe try reading a book based on a movie you’re familiar with. That may help you imagine the characters and the situations they’re in or find something to read based on your interests. It can be anything that could help you keep practicing. No matter how thin or thick a book may be, give it a shot. Ignore the hard words and move on to the words you can understand. If a word seems unfamiliar, look it up in the dictionary. That’s, in my opinion, the best way to practice reading, by simply…reading every day for at least ten minutes, then maybe gradually read in more extended periods. At the end of the day, if the material in the book relates to your interests, the chances are you’ll enjoy it, so don’t be intimidated by the words and focus on the story, because from my educational experience, the best way to learn is with a positive mindset.