It's interesting to see what people do in their free time. What's free time? It's what you do for fun. That thing that brings out the best in you. Some people sit on the sofa watching reruns of 90210. Others run around the lakes or play three on three.

Some talk with friends, play video games or read a good book. I happen to love reading, and consequently, love to write. Over break, I read "On Writing" by Stephen King. I've always loved to write, especially poetry. My teachers back in San Diego started us writing in kindergarten. By fifth grade, we tried writing novellas and had a novel starting kit with exercises to help us with characters, scenes and plots. We thought we could come up with stellar stories. We thought we could write.

The crazy thing is, we could. But most of us would go to the library and read our favorite books, then thinking we couldn't. Most of us never tried, because we were told it was talent. Oh, well… our loss?

Not hardly, at least for me. I can't speak for my classmates at Spreckels, Standley and UCHS, but I knew how to write. I wrote what I knew. It started with poetry. Little that rhymed regularly, writing as it came.

Then I got it in my head to write a novel. Jeez! So, two summers ago, after freshman year here, I started writing a story — my novel. I got four pages. I couldn't think of how to continue it, so I left it go and didn't touch it `til last summer. I read through my four pages and just started writing. It started the same, but changed a paragraph into it. I managed to get 14 pages out of one paragraph.

Last semester, I took Fiction Writing with Prof. William O'Rourke. It was a great opportunity. I learned a lot about me, what I like and how I like it. I enjoyed the class and the opportunity to let my ideas flow. I have a few short stories now. After I let them sit for a while, I'll go back and rewrite them. But, as much fun as the class was, it was also a lot of hard work. It took a lot of time and then, sometimes nothing seemed to be there. Like a void. The emptiness you get when you need to write a 10 page paper on your least favorite subject. Some say it's the lack of a Muse. I say its just plain writer's block. It happens.

What I found out over break, was that — it happens, to the best of writers. And it's alright. Ideas are always there, often pounding down your door — and you can't hear it. I found a key to fit the lock on my brain. Write what you feel, anything can get you started. Don't be afraid of what anyone else thinks. Write for yourself and everything will be dandy. A hard lesson learned, but I'm grateful. Thanks Professor O'Rourke and Mr. King.

• On writing