Friday Favorite — school visits!

Apr 22, 2011

Yesterday I talked to students at Norman High School about writing and publishing. I love talking to young writers! I’m always amazed by how talented and driven they are. I polled today’s group, and several had already finished a novel. This was thrilling to hear, but I confess it also made me feel a little lame.

What was I doing in high school? Writing bad poetry about boys and fluffing my already ginormous hair. Okay, I did start at least one novel during my teens, but that story never went anywhere because I didn’t know what the heck I was talking about. (I think it was a romance between a graduate student and an athropologistist, set in Africa. WHAT? Oh, and the sexy anthropologist bore a striking resemblance to Sting.)

Anyway, I love these school visits — I always feel inspired afterwards. I was so risk-averse as a teen, at least in terms of creativity. And I could barely stand to share anything I wrote because I was too sensitive to criticism. It’s reassuring to know there are plenty of kids out there today who (1) proudly identify themselves as writers, (2) eagerly run the gauntlet of drafting, sharing and revising their work, and 3) pursue their writing goals while keeping on top of all their other school work. Hooray!

By the way, in the above photo I am using an image to discuss one of my bullet-proof kinks. Can you tell what the kink is?

[Cross-posted from Livejournal]

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