A few months ago, sandwiched between hundreds of press releases and PR pitches in my inbox was an email from a kid who said he wanted to be a writer. (thread)
I was intrigued, replied and learned that he had been writing fiction. Really wild stuff with monsters but set in familiar Green Bay-area neighborhoods.
It was entertaining, but I wasn't sure if I could find a way to help Grayson get published. I offered an idea: How about if you write about being a young writer, and your plight to get published?
His response (above) was immediate and a little surprising. I'd worked with teen writers before, it's been an exercise in patience.
But what happened next surprised me even more. He met every single request and responded to every bit of coaching I offered, faster and better than I imagined.
This process continued even after I gave him some feedback I thought might be a little deflating.
He persisted, and finally turned in a draft that I thought we could publish, and so I did, like I have countless other guest columns or letters to the editor. greenbaypressgazette.com/story/opinion/…
Before I published, though, I did some verification and contacted his mom. That's when I was surprised to learn she had NO idea he had reached out to the newspaper.
Anyway, after the story ran in print, his mom sent me this:
I'm not sure exactly what I taught Grayson about writing, but I sure didn't need to coach him on following his passion and taking feedback and being persistent!
Anyway, I thought it was a nice story, a little inspirational maybe, and I'm happy that email caught my attention.
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