ADVANCED ENGLISH STORY 📚 Pursue the Dream 🖊️ Level 4 - 5 | C1 | British English Story with Subtitles

English story c one pursue the dream welcome to lovely English stories thank you for stopping by don't forget to share our stories with your friends this story is perfect for advanced Learners let's begin Jackie has always had an overactive imagination her thoughts run away with her into different worlds some days she's in a mystical land others she's in an Edwardian Village sometimes she's on a beach where she sunbathes with sun-kissed skin having a creative imagination can have its ups and downs Jackie often gets bored and finds herself becoming easily distracted at school she was often

told off by her teachers for looking out of the window or for scribbling in her notebook instead of listening to the class this continued into adulthood at University lecturers would point out that she was daydreaming and not paying attention to what they were saying they were right of course Jackie often lived in another world she found she was happier that way she could create any scene language character or place that she wanted at College Jackie had studied English literature and to her surprise she gained the top grade of anyone in her year she excelled at

English the same can't be said for maths which she failed three times but persistence paid off and she eventually scraped a c after college Jackie decided to pursue creative writing at University much to her parents dismay they wanted her to do something more useful but to Jackie there was nothing more useful than getting her imaginary worlds and characters out of her head and onto paper she liked to share her stories with others and watch their faces as the storylines unfolded she has loved this feeling ever since she was a little girl even as a child

she would write stories and poems and enter them into local writing competitions she won a few times and was spurred on to keep trying different genres and writing techniques by the time she had to decide her University choices Jackie realized she didn't want to study at just any old place she wanted to develop her skills surrounded by successful writers who had won prestigious Awards as the saying goes surround yourself with those on the same Mission as you she wanted to be a professional writer one day what better way to start than learning from the best

she aimed high and she got into her University of choice her three-year course was world renowned Jackie felt a lot of pressure to perform and she was concerned that this might hinder her development she tried to keep a level head and get on with things she wouldn't let other people's expectations or ego impact her progress in Jackie's second year of uni she decided to join the creative writing class finally she was surrounded by other people who had the same interests as her she could talk about character and story arcs and not bore them to tears

with her theories about famous books everyone else in the group felt the same as her that books and literature can change lives Jackie's aim in life was to write a book that would help people drift off into a make-believe world just like she had as a teenager she wanted to be able to escort people on a journey through another person's life by attending the writing group Jackie was able to share her thoughts and ideas with like-minded people they gave her constructive criticism and advice regarding her ideas and progress sometimes it was a little upsetting for

her especially if people thought her ideas were lame or didn't hold any real substance but Jackie trusted their guidance some of the group had already published short stories and poems in well-known journals and magazines she hoped to follow in their footsteps during the summer between her second and third years at University Jackie went back home and got a temp job in an office she needed to get some money saved up for her final year she wanted to be able to concentrate on her studies and not worry about where the money for rent was coming from

the job was so destroying she called it the office of Doom it was gray lifeless and dull she stuck it out by thinking of the money it was easy work and her work colleagues were nice enough luckily her computer didn't face into the office but instead face towards the wall so no one could see what she was actually doing this was an incentive for her every day she worked extra fast to try and get all her tasks completed by 2PM then she had three hours to work on her new story she was in the privileged

position that she could see whenever someone was coming into the office so when they did she just opened another window which showed some spreadsheets so for three hours a day for three months she cracked on and wrote a story she was chuffed with it too one night towards the end of her temporary contract she stayed a little later to get some things done but she wanted to use the printer without anyone watching her she knew it was against the rules but it was a huge company and her colleagues were always using the equipment for their

private matters she waited until everyone had gone home and printed off her manuscript she tried to use as little paper as possible she set her printing to double-sided single spaced and a small font she just wanted to be able to proofread on paper and she was going to ask her mum to double check it for her she knew she'd also prefer the old-fashioned way of reading from the page it's old school but it works she sets her book to print and waited around nervously any little noise made her senses extra alert she needn't have worried

she managed to print off her work without a hitch she couldn't wait to get home and start going through her manuscript she knew there would be errors grammar mistakes and bizarre plot twists but she was ready to take the criticism from her mum who was also an Avid Reader that night Jackie gave the printout to her mom at first she seemed in shock perhaps she thought Jackie wouldn't do it and she had proved her wrong her mum sat down at the dinner table with a cup of herbal tea and her favorite Parker Pen and began

making amendments suggestions and comments on her work in Total it took her five days to fully edit the manuscript she was honest with Jackie she knew some of her comments might upset her but she also knew that professional editors and literary agents would be much more critical Jackie trusted her mother's opinion and got to work on making the amendments she had two weeks before her final year at University started she worked tirelessly on making her book a work of art she crafted new characters worked on setting scenes and she created new voices it really was

a labor of love after Jackie had finished editing the last page she breathed a sigh of relief she'd done it she'd written her first book of course it wasn't in book format just yet but she hoped it would be one day she saved her work on her memory stick to her cloud and on her laptop she didn't want to risk losing it after she'd put such a lot of work into it she decided to leave her book for a few weeks while she settled back into University life it was a busy time she had decided

to move back into Halls of residence and so she was busy making friends going to parties and starting back at her creative writing class before Jackie knew it it was almost the end of the first semester and she had almost forgotten about her story one evening when Jackie was tidying her room she found the edited manuscript and decided to pull up the final version on her laptop it was better than she remembered she couldn't just leave this piece of work Gathering dust she had to at least try and get it out there she opened Google

and started to search for writing competitions she found a few that she met the requirements for and decided to give it a shot as she clicked submit on each submission she got more and more nervous she was shaking there was something very personal about letting people read your work and Jackie was nervous about the possible feedback she would get on the other hand she knew she had to learn to accept criticism and that all art is subjective there'll always be someone who doesn't like what you do now all Jackie had to do was play the

waiting game most of the competitions didn't close until the new year so she decided to not think any more of it start a new story and enjoy her Christmas holiday February Christmas went by without a hitch Jackie had a great time catching up with friends and family she all but forgot about the competition she'd entered then out of the blue she got an email from a big literary agent in London At first she assumed it was a newsletter or perhaps a rejection if she was lucky she might even get some feedback when she opened the

email she was completely taken aback she had been shortlisted Jackie and four other people had been chosen out of thousands of would-be writers Jackie was shell-shocked she couldn't believe it she had been invited to the awards ceremony which would take place in a month in London the agency would pay for her travel and accommodation and she was allowed to bring one other person with her she could only think of one person she'd want to accompany her of course it had to be her mum who had spent hours ruthlessly editing Jackie's story and giving her honest

and open feedback Jackie decided to pay her parents a surprise visit and tell them in person after all she had no plans at the weekend and was up to date with writing her dissertation for University she arrived at home and they were delighted to see her then they were suddenly concerned that something was wrong quite the opposite laughed Jackie she explained to her parents what had happened they told her they were always so hard on her over the years as they knew the industry could be tough and they wanted her to be able to take

the knockbacks well now she could Jackie's mum started worrying about what to wear and the logistics of getting to London Mom all you need to worry about is your outfit everything else is covered before they knew it it was time for the awards ceremony Jackie and her mum traveled to London and checked in at their very lovely Hotel Jackie always loved to be in the capital it inspired her Jackie's mum didn't quite resonate with the city she found it to be too Brash and overpopulated nevertheless they had a lovely time the ceremony was incredibly glamorous

Jackie tried to keep her cool even when she recognized some well-renowned authors and agents at the event she was among the people she'd always wanted to call her peers the time for the presentation came and Jackie was a ball of nerves even if she didn't win she was in the top five and would get a mentor from the agency to help her if she came second she would also get ten thousand pounds but if she came first she would get 25 000 pounds plus a book deal she was so close to her dreams coming true

that she was struggling to keep it together she took quiet deep breaths and her mum gently held her hand as the announcements were made the presenter talked about each of the five books which had made it to the final and why they were chosen the moment came for the winner and the runner-up prizes Jackie wanted the Earth to swallow her up she wasn't used to being the center of attention and everyone was looking at each other in anticipation then out of the blue she heard her name announced she had won the runner-up prize Jackie stood

Motionless in shock her mum nudged her forward go on love get up on that stage and collect your prize the next few hours rolled by in a complete blur Jackie met so many people she couldn't keep track of their names she had her photograph taken with so many successful authors she felt like she was living in a dream world Jackie wasn't sad that she hadn't won first place she was happy she got this far runner up was amazing she would have ten thousand pounds which meant she wouldn't have to rush to find a job straight

out of University she could take the time to hone her writing skills develop her craft with her mentor and hopefully secure a book deal in the future all of this was proof to Jackie that even though she kept her talents hidden for so long if you persist keep trying and take the feedback you really can pursue your dreams we hope you enjoyed this lovely English story thank you for stopping by don't forget to like And subscribe