Encouraging the Next Generation

The holidays are here, which means I'm driving here and there, to one party, dinner or another, trying to keep my sanity. Yesterday, before going to my brother-in-law's birthday party, I decorated sugar cookies with my niece and nephews. This may seem ordinary, but to any aunt out there who is close to her nieces and nephews, it's not only a lot of fun, but dear to your heart.

After decorating the cookies, my niece had a surprise waiting for me that I hadn't anticipated: she finished her first story. If I'm such a good aunt, as I indubitably am, then how could something like this come as a surprise? Well, my niece is ten years old and like books with pictures, a la Diary of a Wimpy Kid. And while she loves the stories in Japanese Ghibli films, such as Howl's Moving Castle, she has never been a big reader (despite my nudges over the years). I was about to try and steer her towards manga (or graphic novels, if you prefer) when she blindsided me with her story. When I asked her why she wrote the story, she said, "Well, you and Leah (another aunt) both write and my teacher's son just got published, so I thought I would try it too." Let's just say she got a lot of hugs and extra love for that comment!

She was anxious to mail it off and even fetched an envelope. I read the story and afterwards I decided to help her pursue this new interest and had a "junior writer's talk" as I like to call it. In other words, I convinced her to type it up, let it sit a few days and have others offer some suggestions. She was pretty open to the idea, and I hope she takes my advice to keep writing (and to read more). Her story was creative, and if she keeps it up, she has potential. As an extra last minute Christmas gift I've decided to give her a notebook with "Stories by Joanna" on the cover and encourage her every step of the way.