Friday, January 21, 2011

Chat with the Children

Every writer needs a bit of inspiration from time to time. I'm no exception. I spent the afternoon with an amazing group of young writers Thursday afternoon. We talked about good beginnings, no sagging middles, and ending with feelings. All very important parts of any story. The inspiring part? These were kindergarteners at a local school. The oldest in the room was 5 1/2 years old.
Their teacher is a good friend. I took my current manuscript to show them how much work I have to do to research and edit and revise. The teacher reinforced and reminded them that they did all the same things. Then we broke up into small groups and I listened to several children's stories (phonetically written to be sure, but it was all theirs). Not only did they write the stories, they created covers, illustrations and the backpage with the feelings. They were so excited to write. They were anxious and eager to share with me. That's the feeling I take away. We a need to maintain that excitement, that eagerness to share with our readers. Leave it to the children to cut to the chase. They will remind you why you started writing in the first place. You have a story to share with others. Hugs,

1 comment:

Gail Pallotta said...

Hi Connie,

Congratulations on your new blog.
It looks really great. I too once taught children about writing. I worked for six years in my county's afterschool program. We put out a literary magazine with their poems, stories, etc., and we did a radio show. They got up on stage and read their commercials, sports, etc. It was great fun. The kids were so dear. I know the kindergartners had fun while you were there.