Day Four: Learning Book Writing
Day 4 of the Skills2Stars Summer Academy reminded young participants that becoming an author does not begin when a book is published. It begins when you learn to pay attention to the world around you.
There was a simple but powerful message at the heart of the Skills2Stars Book Writing Workshop:
“To become a great author, you must first become a great observer and a great listener.”
The words came from author and coach Vera of The Readerz Corner, who led Skills2Stars participants through an interactive book writing session designed to help them understand that writing is about much more than putting words on a page.
It is about observing, listening, questioning, learning and documenting the experiences happening around us.
Students doing a reading exercise
Books Are People’s Experiences on Paper
Throughout the workshop, Vera encouraged participants to think differently about where stories come from.
Young people can sometimes believe that they need to experience something extraordinary before they have something worth writing about. But Vera reminded them that stories are everywhere.
They are in our families.
They are in the conversations we have.
They are in the people we meet.
They are in our communities, cultures, challenges, questions, mistakes, dreams and everyday experiences.
One of the lessons she shared with the participants was simple:
“Books are people’s experiences on paper.”
That idea changed the way participants were encouraged to look at writing.
Instead of waiting for an idea to magically appear, they were challenged to become intentional observers of life. Listen when people speak. Notice what is happening around you. Ask questions. Stay curious. Pay attention to how experiences make you feel.
And most importantly, write things down.
A conversation today could become dialogue in a story tomorrow. An experience at school could inspire a chapter. A question you cannot stop thinking about could eventually become the idea behind an entire book.
Great writers do not simply write.
Vera responding to a student’s question
They notice.
“I Became an Author at 40”
Perhaps one of the most meaningful moments of the workshop came when Vera shared part of her own journey with the young participants.
She became an author at 40 years old.
It was an accomplishment worth celebrating, but as she looked at the young people sitting before her, she shared something else with them: she wished she had started writing earlier.
Her story became an important lesson.
There is no reason for a young person to wait until adulthood to begin developing their voice.
There is no age requirement for creativity.
There is no minimum age for having an idea worth sharing.
And there is certainly no age too young to begin writing.
For participants between the ages of 12 and 17, hearing this message from someone who had walked the journey herself was especially significant.
They have something Vera wished she had given herself earlier:
permission to start now.
Students in a reading exercise
What Are You Feeding Your Mind?
The session also challenged participants to think about what they are feeding their minds.
Experiences, conversations, observations, questions, learning and curiosity all contribute to the ideas we eventually produce.
This connected with another important lesson from the Skills2Stars book writing sessions: authors are readers.
Before young people can write stories that influence others, they must also understand the importance of the stories, information and experiences they allow to shape them.
Reading expands vocabulary, introduces us to worlds beyond our own and helps us understand how other writers communicate their ideas. Observation teaches us to notice. Listening helps us understand people. Curiosity pushes us to ask better questions.
Together, these habits begin building a writer.
The Next Great Author Could Be Sitting Among Us
As participants listened, observed, read, discussed ideas and began putting their own thoughts on paper, something bigger than a writing exercise was happening.
Young people were beginning to see themselves differently.
Perhaps one of them will publish a book next year.
Perhaps another will keep writing privately for several years before sharing their work.
Perhaps someone will become a journalist, screenwriter, poet, novelist, communications professional or filmmaker.
And perhaps another participant will simply carry forward the confidence of knowing that their experiences and ideas are worth documenting.
Every one of those outcomes matters.
Because sometimes the difference between someone who dreams about doing something and someone who eventually does it is simply having a person come along early enough to say:
You can start now.
At Skills2Stars, we are committed to creating more of those moments.
One skill.
One mentor.
One opportunity.
One young person at a time.
And somewhere among these young writers may be a future bestselling author who will one day look back at a Skills2Stars workshop and remember: This is where I started.
