Rules? What Rules?
What Rules?
This week I presented to a high school creative writing class about the process of publishing. Because my Timeshifters trilogy is launching in a few weeks, it was the perfect time to step away from the last-minute chaos and focus on the point of this entire process—the readers.
So much to share. When I speak to a group of very young, new writers, I always worry that I will run out of things to say. I should know better. Once I begin describing process from the first wiggle of an idea to the frantic trails of research and all the way to inhaling deep over a box of freshly printed books, I can’t find a stopping point. I’m reminded that writing isn’t merely the thing that steals away my sleeping time and socializing hours. It isn’t an endless stream of deadlines, frustrations, and rejections… well… okay it is all those things, but it is also the very thing I live for and cannot live without.
Passion shows. I have hundreds of interests. I want to try everything, see everything, and learn everything. I can hold my end on conversations on an incredibly large number of topics at a fairly high level. But nothing makes me feel as giddy as talking about writing. And when I see that passion mirrored back in the eager eyes of young people, nothing could make me more determined to be the best writer I can be.
Lessons re-learned. High School writers ask high quality, intelligent questions about every stage of the writer process. They are energetic at 8:00am even without coffee. Their dreams are fragile and uncertain. And they are forming long-standing habits that will shape their future. In short, they are exactly like older, more experienced writers except for the part about not needing coffee to stand upright before noon. (Which is slightly infuriating.)
Things that made me smile. When I asked, “what are you reading?” Someone pulled out a book. Some were reading more than one. Too often I hear adults say, “I haven’t read a book in years.” It was refreshing to see dog-eared books waving in the air. And the fact that they had paper books was surprising, too. My adult friends have gone all digital. Who would have thought adults would be ahead of teens on any scale with technology? It seems that this group of teenagers was slow to pick ebooks over the old-fashioned kind. Whatever the format, they agree with me that books are as essential as oxygen.
What rules? These young people have something that gives them a boost over many adult writers. They are uninhibited. They don’t feel locked in by genre rules. Not even their inexperience in life situations stops them from writing about a complex idea they love. They haven’t been rejected enough to feel cautious. They just leap ahead, convinced they can succeed because they have been told they can do anything–and they still believe it.
What they gave me. While I’ve always been eager to try new things, I’ll admit that I have aimed more often toward the safe paths. I’ve been rejected often enough to avoid the long shots, even when they are what I really want. Today I feel newly inspired to charge forward uninhibited with my hands in the air and my imagination in the clouds. I’m going to live like there is no tomorrow and write like there are no rules today.
