One of the things I promised God I would do as a writer is encourage others along the way. My take is if I can give information and resources to help accelerate their journey, why not?
I’d rather view this business as a family rather than a competition.
Last month I was able to spend time with junior and senior high school students at Youngstown Christian School as part of their literacy week. I shared my story, that I wasn’t in honor classes nor was I encouraged to write for a living. I was told to make safe choices and understand I was weak in grammar. Although I entertained friends with my daily fiction, I listened to the voices that told me to put that stirring on a shelf. I made sure the students knew that if God put that passion in them, nothing can take that away.
I then distributed a writing prompt and gave them ten minutes to choose one and craft a story around it.
The choices included:
- A teen eating dinner while watching the news receives personal instruction from the anchor.
- A student closing up a store at the mall encounters a mom with a stroller begging to enter the establishment.
- A young man who opens an envelope and learns the results to…
Three of the five Youngstown Christian students featured on the Write Integrity Press website. Photo: Shelley Murray
We had so much fun with this. The school is a melting pot of suburban and inner city experience and the kids reflected their reality into their writing. I saw humor that you can’t manufacture, it came straight from their gifting and made me laugh. The creativity really impressed me.
I shared on Facebook how much fun I was having and Tracy Ruckman, publisher at Write Integrity Press, read that and offered to feature my favorite prompts on the WIP website. I love that Tracy believes in building others up as much as I do.
The student prompts are available for reading and I’d love for you to take a look. Who knows? You might be reading something from a future bestselling author.
Christians Read 