James Taylor

If I had to pick one word to describe my favorite thing in the world, it would be “stories”.

Growing up with semi-limited access to television, I mostly relied on reading to fill my head and grow my imagination. Eye teeming issues and learning differences slowed me down in elementary school but couldn’t fully stop me from ravenously consuming almost any fiction book I could get my hands on. My first pair of glasses then encouraged me past mere obsession. I could see so much further than just the letters; my attention was unencumbered and able to focus on the subtleties, the emotions, and the connections previously lost in the effort just to decipher each word. I finally had the proper chance to palpably experience the improbable and impossible. I used to get so lost in the worlds that I’d imagine myself in the character’s place, and even spent a few months legitimately believing that I could fly. Safe in the realm of children’s stories, I felt I could make better choices or succeed where the characters hadn’t. I naively thought I would be the perfect protagonist in a story without failure. As an adult, the books I read now are more complex and nuanced, and I’m aware life is not a magic-filled fantasy with infinite happiness. While I’m still a dreamer that prides themself on their creativity and imagination, I also know that I won’t be able to rely solely on the support of a fairy-godmother.

Reading is not my only passion, and stories are not solely reliant on written text. Many of my other interests originally stemmed from wanting to experience or create stories in different ways. For example, I love traditional art mediums like drawing and painting and have since before I could even read, so my oldest stories were told with a paint brush or even my fingers dipped in paint. Furthermore, my favorite fields of technology—video games, animated television, and graphics programming—are also deeply connected to art and stories.

Without the baseline of skill, it can be difficult to express your ideas adequately, uniquely, and artistically. Small failures in technique can be blinding even in the face of great ideas. While my creativity was good, my ability to show it was lacking when I was super young. Over-powered and perfect main characters are not usually realistic, and innate talent is often less important than hard work. I wasn't a genius or innately extremely skilled at anything in particular, but a mix of time, practice, and experience gained through things like blogging, painting, and making videos has allowed me to improve my storytelling.