Don’t Wait For Your Dream, Says Author Dubai Abulhoul

Quite simply, my age was the big challenge. I was a 15-year-old approaching people in the industry and nobody would take me seriously when they found out how young I was. It’s very hard. People think just because you’re young you can’t possibly be serious about trying to achieve a goal like that until you’re older.

You just have to stick to your plan and be determined, not listen to the negative comments telling you that you can’t do something. I believed in what I was doing and was always passionate about the project. That said, it is very difficult when nobody’s taking you seriously and there were times I was tempted to give up. But that would only ever last a couple of days, and I would always return to the project.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an avid reader. My dad would always encourage me to read books. We’d watch a movie, and then he’d take me to the book store to get the book the movie was based on. From there, I just started to invent my own stories and write them down. My biggest influence by far is JK Rowling; she’s the reason I’m writing.

One thing I would advise is to always write when you feel like it, unless obviously you have a pressing deadline. I don’t feel writing is something that should be rushed. For me, my best work happens when I’m in the right frame of mind and I just seize the opportunity to get it all down on paper while that feeling lasts. I think if you’re writing under pressure because you have to, you’re not producing your best work, it’s not as natural.

Well I’m currently working on the second book in the series, and I’m aiming to create the whole trilogy before I graduate so that’s a big ambition. I’m in discussions right now to have Galagolia turned into a movie too! That’s a very exciting prospect, but it’s in the early planning stages so I don’t have a time scale for that project yet.

It comes back to the age thing again, and this is a piece of advice for any young person, whether it’s a writer or anyone with a dream: Don’t wait. Whatever it is you want to do, start now. There’s this awful mentality that you have to wait until you’re older before you achieve your goals. That’s nonsense. If you feel passionate about something, you should start immediately in case that feeling doesn’t last. You don’t know how you will feel in a few years from now, so why wait?