All those fascinating books that children read usually have a very strong effect on
(their/them/they) . In my case, it was (much/more/less)
than that. They even motivated me to become a writer myself. I
started writing my first stories at the age of fourteen with the aim of (having/have/to
have) them published in the school newspaper. However, I
was not feeling confident enough about my abilities as a writer, so I (was
hiding/hid/had been hidden) them in my desk and almost
forgot they ever existed. Yet, one day my mum found them while she (tidyed/had
tidied/was tidying) my room. (For/To/At)
my surprise, after she had read all of them, she told me that I
had an extraordinary talent for writing and that I should go for it if that was what I
(so/very/really) wanted. As I always appreciate my
mum’s opinion, I followed her advice and asked the school newspaper editor if he
(can/could/is able to) publish my stories. He did and, in
fact, they were very successful. This provided me with the determination I needed to
go on. At the age of twenty-one, I won the first prize in a national story competition
and started writing (professional way/professionally/professional)
. I would never have believed in myself if she
(hadn’t encouraged/didn’t encourage/wasn’t encouraged)
me then