Anna Mills

The world began shutting down. Country, by country, by country. As many took to their rooms and used the time to relax, senior Nikita Jurcenko took advantage of this time to pursue his passion for writing.

“When quarantine hit I needed something to do… I was inspired by how I read stories and how it affected other people, especially disenfranchised people. I realized that fiction is extremely powerful and it still inspires us,” Jurcenko said.

With more free time than he had ever experienced, his creative mind began to flow.
“My first book was probably one of the most nightmarish things I’ve ever written. It was a big long fantasy novel… pretty impressive for a 15 year old,” Jurcenko said. “It was pretty bad… I had no idea how anything worked back then. I remember distinctly there was a scene where all the rebellion characters were walking in a forest and then they just got to the end of the forest and a desert just happened right there and that’s not how environments work.”

As Jurcenko progressed through high school, he learned more about the elements of writing.

“[At Wando] I learned that I need to appeal to the masses, so I need to be more concise and I need to use less poetic flowy language,” Jurcenko said.

Over the summer, Jurcenko turned his passion into something more professional.

“I’ve actually got a book contract… I contacted a publisher for a short story and the guy on the phone offered me a copyright contract; [however], I turned it down [because] it’s best not to go after the first bait you see… I know there’s a lot more publishers out there, and I understand that my work is valuable,” Jurcenko said.

Jurcenko encourages aspiring writers to appeal to their audiences and is excited for his future as a writer.

“Nobody cares about your fictional history,” Jurcenko said. “You need to focus on your main characters and you need to write like a child basically… just focus on your theme and your primary ideas of the story because that’s what’s going to hit with people… you need to write in the current moment.”