When did you start to write? by Brendan Conboy

When did you start to write? It’s a question I am frequently asked. I expect I am not alone with this request. How many times have you been asked this question? As for me, I have lost count and as for the answer to the enquiry, there are many.

I started to write, or at least learn to write, at about five years old. I’m sure this is the same for most of us, so I assume this is not the answer the person expects to hear.

As a child living in fear and growing up with domestic violence, I had no interest in reading and my desire for creative writing didn’t exist. As for poetry, I didn’t understand it and I detested it. My bad behaviour resulted in me being kicked out of school (no surprise there).

In my teenage years, I met girls on holiday and stayed in touch with them via ‘love letters’. Was this when I started to write? Not really.

I sent handwritten letters to apply for an engineering apprenticeship. Thirteen in total and I was offered twelve opportunities to choose from. I could write and sell myself, but still, this isn’t where I started to write.

I believe God has a sense of humour and in 1986, when I invited Jesus into my life, everything changed. Immediately I was delivered from swearing, it just stopped. Then, after just a few months, I was in a prayer meeting and rhyming words poured into my head. It was a song called ‘Christmas Unwrapped’. This was where my writing started. Click on video above to hear it.

I wrote and recorded two albums as a Christian rap artist and performed for thousands of young people in schools. I naturally progressed into youth work and set up a charity with a friend. Eventually, I was the first paid worker and I needed to find funding for the work. I didn’t have a clue how to do this, so I prayed and God showed me how to tell stories.

Over 30 years later the project is still running and impacting lives. What’s more, my storytelling has developed into publishing fiction books and my rap music has become rhyming poetry.

When did I start to write? I guess the answer is - when Jesus came into my life. This was when my writing became meaningful and able to change the lives of others.

 

Brendan Conboy aka Half Man Half Poet is the author of 16 published books including two fascinating autobiographies, The Golden Thread and I'm Still VALUED.  In 1986, Brendan invited Jesus into his life and God blessed him with the gift of rhyming words.  He used that gift as a Christian Rap artist for 25 years and has written 6 poetry books including the entire Book of Psalms in Rhyme.  He has 3 published novels - Issues, Invasion of the Mimics and Legacy of the Mimics.  He is the creator of Book Blest