I started writing at the age of fifteen as a cute little high school freshman.

Up to that age, writing was nothing more than your English teacher asking for a three-page essay and thinking the absolute worse (College me would later cry out of happiness at the thought of a three-page essay. Get it together 15-year-old self!).

At first, my drabbles started out as cute stories that certainly didn't harm anyone; they were for my eyes only so I could do whatever I pleased; publishing was something only Big Time Authors did.

As time passed, however, I found out there were websites where I could publish my writing on, claim them as my own, and have people read them—and that's exactly what I did.

My first fictional piece reached over 6,000 reads, and I couldn't have been happier!

Of course, reading my work now, I'm cringing like there's no tomorrow. I feel sorry for the people who read this, and I'm almost embarrassed to know that these words were written for other people's enjoyment.

2011 worksSamantha Galvez

It was only after I took a look at my writing now and compared them to what they used to be, that I can't help but feel a little bit proud of the progress that I've made.

2018 worksSamantha Galvez

In fact, I felt so proud that it became hard to write for a while, which doesn't make any sense, but I was so enamored with what my writing looked like, that I tried everything to make sure that it stayed that way; and that's not how writing works at all.

Writing grows up just like you and me. It goes through endless changes, both good and bad, to ultimately achieve the best it can.

With every different person with a different occasion, there's a different writing. In the long run, it shouldn't matter what your writing looks like, what matters is that you wrote it and there was room for improvement.

Moral of the story: Just because you can't fabricate a sentence or two, doesn't mean you don't know how to write.

Just because you can't figure out what to write or what your next story plot should be, doesn't make you a bad writer.

Creating characters is hard, coming up with ideas is harder, and researching it all is endless!

People don't understand the amount of work it takes to write something creative or adventurous; all they see is the finished product.

Take your time, learn your style and enjoy it!

Writing should be about you and how you see the world! There's nothing wrong with growing from past mistakes or trying different things.

From one writer to another, comparing your present work to previous works isn't the best; it can deter you from writing what you want and cause you to imitate styles that aren't needed. It can also be one of the causes for writer's block, which is always a huge no-no.

All you should do is live in the moment and keep on writing!