‘When I saw myself on TV, I realised there are no limits to what you can achieve’

Ariel Owliaei, eight, lives in north-west London with his parents, two brothers, and grandmother. He belongs to Bevis Marks Synagogue, and in his spare time, he likes writing stories and taking photos.

Writing is not only a passion but also a talent, and earlier this year, Ariel made it to the grand final of the BBC 500 Words competition.

His story, The Lighthouse, is about a young girl who explores an abandoned lighthouse. It was one of the top 25 stories in the five to seven age category, from a total of more than 46,500 entries in that age group and the eight to eleven category. He was invited to attend an event at Windsor Castle, and the final was broadcasted on the BBC.

Here, he tells the JC about his story-writing process, meeting the Queen and Paddington Bear, and what it was like to watch himself on TV.

1. What gave you the inspiration for this story?

For inspiration, I usually look to my notes because I have a notebook which I write in every day – just things I see or which happen in my life. I get inspiration from looking around. This idea was from when we went on holiday to Thailand and went on a big boat and saw a large lighthouse.

I also did a spooky workshop at the Design Museum in the October half-term break, and afterwards, I saw all of the Halloween decorations on houses nearby. That made me decide to do a scary story.

Ariel (second row, sixth from left, blue jacket with tie) with the other finalists at Windsor Castle (photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

2. Tell us about the event at Windsor Castle.

I went with my mum, and it was a very big honour to be invited. It was a private event, so they closed the castle for everyone else. The ceremony was held in the Waterloo Chamber, and outside, there were beautiful objects which had been given to the Royal Family by other countries.

There was a stand-up comedian to warm up the audience and he was very funny. The BBC was filming the event and they had lots of heavy cameras. The BBC and the staff at the palace made us all feel very comfortable. When I left, they gave me a Crayola goody bag.

Ariel getting Sir Lenny Henry's autograph at the event (photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

3. Who did you enjoy seeing at the event?

I got to chat to some of the judges, and I also got Sir Lenny Henry’s autograph and spoke to him about his work for Comic Relief. And I got to shake the Queen’s hand, which was incredible! She said the competition was to encourage people to read and write. I also really enjoyed speaking to the other entrants and hearing where they were from.

I also liked seeing Paddington, who sang a song from Paddington: The Musical. At the buffet for afternoon tea, everything was served on silver trays – including marmalade cocktails and marmalade sandwiches under Paddington’s hat.

Marmalade sandwiches served from underneath Paddington's hat (photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

4. What else was special about the 500 Words competition?

In the competition, SPaG [spelling, punctuation, and grammar] didn’t matter – they just wanted to see creativity. That was good because I’d made a lot of spelling mistakes! My brother also got his name on the BBC website in the eight to eleven category for his story, The Party – he was in the top 100.

The final was on TV on March 6 for World Book Day. I felt very amazed when I watched myself because I realised that if you push yourself, there are no limits to what you can achieve. And I like creativity because there are no limits to imagination. I sat down for a very long time to write this story; I worked so hard. But with hard work comes good things. Maybe I’ll do a sequel!

Click here to read Ariel’s story.

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