Write it anyway.
I grew up surrounded by stories. My dad and grandfather would make up tales for my sister and I, as children. Reading time would arrive and I’d drift off into new worlds. I began writing when I was eight years old, writing poetry and short stories in my English lessons and then during my spare time.
My parents adopted me from China when I was 14 months old - 3 years later I went out with them to adopt my younger sister. Part of the reason I write is to deal with being adopted but also to create my own narrative.
GCSEs, A-Levels and Higher Education
It wasn’t until 2014 that I knew I wanted to take writing ‘seriously.’ I stumbled across the Creative Writing A-Level at my Sixth Form Pathways evening, falling in love with it very quickly (sadly it doesn’t exist anymore). My class was very small with 7 pupils altogether. It was here where I started keeping my first writing journal. Fast forward to 2015-16 and I was diving into other forms such as scriptwriting and non-fiction, going on to write and self-publish a theatre play for my Extended Project. We attended many writing workshops from visiting writers and in 2015, had the pleasure of meeting the author, Joanne Harri, (Chocolat) as part of Manx Literature Festival.
During my Creative Writing studies at York St John University I honed my writing craft through a variety of creative modules. This ranged from forms of narrative to literature analysis.
Throughout the three years I specialised in prose-fiction, scriptwriting, gothic and horror and non-fiction before writing the opening to a gothic novel for my dissertation project and reflective commentary. Up until this point I hadn’t properly tackled longer forms of fiction. I had a host of brilliant and encouraging writing tutors and professors, whom I’m still in touch with today. As part of my course, I got to complete a Publishing, Production and Performance module where we produced and published an anthology of Creative Writing for Beyond the Walls Showcase as part of York Literature Festival 2018, and published by Valley Press. Working on the Promotions Team I helped to advertise and market the submission call out and the book launch event itself.
Alongside my full-time study I volunteered as a magazine writer and as the President, Marketing Officer, Charity and Merchandise Officer for my Snowsports Society. In my final year I was fortunate enough to be published in the Beyond the Walls Creative Writing Anthology 2019.
Covid-19
In November 2019 I graduated with a Class I BA Creative Writing Degree in York Minister. Yet I was not to know about what lay ahead. I had planned to take a gap year and do a ski season but ended up doing an internship at the Isle of Man public broadcaster, Manx Radio. By chance someone had dropped out last minute for this course when I interviewed for another role, and they suggested I apply since it matched my skillset. From 2019-20 I worked as a News Journalist on the frontline of the covid-19 pandemic.
Here I pitched news stories, carrying out interviews and writing news stories for public broadcast on the hourly bulletins and daily shows. As part of my role I even got to write and produce my own podcast, A Mark on the Page, about becoming a literary author on the Isle of Man. Sadly, there were no full-time radio roles available and so I left to another internship; this time it was marketing. From there I flicked from job to job to survive (since it was covid-19) juggling roles such as finance, HR, PR/Advertising, copywriting and library work. Throughout this period, I had also finished my writing my first ever Spec Script, developed from the opening to a TV Pilot at university. My writing professor had encouraged me to keep writing as he saw I had a ‘flair for script.’
My writing routine began to take off due to being cooped up at home during the pandemic. I wrote 2 short stories which would win the ManxLitFest 2020 Lockdown Fiction and Isle of Man Arts Council 2021 Literary Lockdown competitions. Another one of my poems also placed in the Manx Poetry Trail 2020, five years after my A-Level poem won in the same competition.
TV Drama & Script Reading
In August 2022 I made the leap over to the mainland. I had landed my first role in TV after months of knocking on the door. I joined Moonage Pictures (The Gentleman / A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder / Famous Five) as their Office Runner for 12 months before moving into a Team Assistant role at BBC Studios Drama (EastEnders / Silent Witness / Casualty). During this period, I also helped with Channel 4 Screenwriting and Scribe Lounge’s Elevate Scheme. Throughout I was helping with script reading, organising writing courses, rooms and retreats whilst juggling up to seven productions and FTCs. I forged some wonderful (and not so wonderful) connections and from 2024-26 launched my script club, First Ten, with Maria Odufuye (Edinburgh One to Watch 2024). Our aim was to nurture and champion upcoming screenwriting talent through monthly sessions where we gave editorial feedback and pitching slots. Our members have gone on to be selected for the Edinburgh New Writers Scheme 2026, finish their first Pilot and their first TV role. I also happened to carry out my first table read in 2024 whilst being at BBC. It was amazing to hear my writing being acted out.
The Gutsy Writer and Beyond...
I have always written alongside full-time work. Since being gifted my first writing journal by my English teachers in 2014, I have tried to keep writing a daily habit. I embed it into my routine whether that's brainstorming, journalling or just going stream of consciousness freestyle, I always make time for it. I see it as training. Writing is working that creative muscle.
It took me at least 6 years after graduating before I finished my first novel. Prior to that I had completed my first TV Pilot, feature etc but this was the main accomplishment for me since fiction is my main form. Both novels took at least 3-10 years to develop and write as I had written them as scripts before circling back to prose.
A spell of unemployment left me with buckets of time and I took a great leap of faith and launched my Substack, also writing novels 1&2. Launching the Gutsy Writer in July 2025 was a huge step for me to place my writing out into the world as writing itself is a huge passion of mine. As a storyteller and Chinese adoptee I want to unearth the hidden stories of today. The blogging helped to give me something to focus on and remove the sting of rejection.
Since then I have been writing for Writers and Artists Website, 40k words into novel no.3 and am slowly building my portfolio.
My future remains uncertain but all I know is to keep on writing.
