Jacob Cross, began scribbling in sixth grade when he got into reading and became interested in the fantasy genere, and is now a talented student writer. Fantasy novels such as “The Lord of the Rings,” by J.R.R. Tolkien, “A Wrinkle in Time,” by Madeleine L’Engle, “The Princess Bride,” by William Goldman and “Dragonriders of Pern,” by Anne McCaffrey, all explore new worlds with new concepts and new dangers that help spark one’s imagination to create fresh ideas. For Cross, they were stepping stones.

“I really dig the escape of a whole other world and since I had ADHD, it’s something I was able to focus on,” Cross, senior, said.

“After reading for a couple of years, I got into writing small. You know, writing little short stories making up some kind of the stuff. I didn’t really have too much original content for a couple of years. Then, I started developing my own sort of style and stuff that I liked. I didn’t do too much with it until now,” Cross said.

“About sophomore year, I got more serious about it because of how much better my writing was. I was always thinking of new ideas and creating new content. Nothing made me happier than making a whole new world with conflicts that could never exist. Now that I’m more serious about it, I’m learning new ways to better my writing,” Cross said.

“It’s kind of interesting seeing how a story can develop. The story I’m working on now, I think I’ve gone through about seven drafts now. One of the coolest and cruelest part of writing is editing. Taking a part you didn’t like and shifting it to your favorite part of the piece is a pretty cool thing to do.It;s also pretty fun. If you’re getting sick of a piece, you start from scratch, reset the scene, or change the elements of something into a whole new vision than the first piece,” Cross said.