Mentor a Young Writer

I encourage all of you to mentor a young writer. In this day of truncated words, abbreviations that can barely be understood without a lexicon of texting in your back pocket and less face to face time, it is important to preserve the English Language. How as writers do we accomplish this? We write, and write, and write some more, until that final sentence before our maker calls us home. We can also help a young writer to find their words.

Why is that important, you may ask? We owe a debt to our readers to bring forth a fresh voice and new way to look at the world. You may ask what is the reward? If you have to ask that then you aren’t ready to mentor. The rewards are enormous and some are even self-fulfilling. For me, the reward is watching a young person grow and to find their words. For me, the reward is having someone to share with ideas, thoughts, and dreams; and then to have some shared with you. For me, the reward is keeping me writing — even if it is one word, one sentence, one paragraph, one page, one chapter. It keeps my pen moving and the ideas flowing. It also keeps me young.

How does it keep us young? I am sixty-four years young. I like to tell everyone that I am twenty-one; but the body just isn’t cooperating. Hearing new fresh ideas, helps to keep my ideas fresh and new. As you already know, my granddaughter asked me to write a book she could read. I have used my two young protégés to review my first children’s book to make sure it is age appropriate and touches on subjects that they can relate to. Both the mentor and the protégé end up winning in the relationship. To see how this works, I recommend that everyone who loves to write watch the following movie: Finding Forrester staring Sean Connery and Rob Brown. It is probably at the top of my list of favorite movies that I have seen.

Thank you, Jacob and Maggie for letting me help you find your words. You can’t begin to imagine how much it has helped me to keep mine fresh and flowing.