I wrote as a child after moving from the countryside to a town. I hated living there and was always looking for a way out. The school I had been at was so good that I mourned leaving it, and the new school was a horrible place for me. At first, I had to deal with being bullied and was fortunate to grow considerably in the first year I was there. Then the bullying stopped.
But I played truant at school and found quiet cafés where I could sit in the corner and write. I was found out, of course, and was sent to the school psychologist, who said I was bored. But things didn't change, and so when I left school, I took on a boring job, then another, and in the end, contrary to my parents' wishes, I joined the army, hoping to get a posting abroad.
My commanding officers read what I was writing and advised me to leave the army, which I did, and after ending up in nursing, I started writing again. Since then, I've been writing profusely and just haven't had the money for an editor so that I could get published. I've been publishing on Substack for some time, but I write now as therapy to cope with this crazy old world.