The Classroom is Only a Baseline

May 14, 2009 By 45 Comments

This is the 200th post at Writer Dad.

In lieu of balloons or red roses, rainbows or high fives, I’d like to make an announcement.

Homeschool rulesThis is the post I was originally going to run on Monday, before I decided to run Cindy’s birthday card instead. Thank you so much to everyone who sent her such wonderful birthday wishes. We read all your comments and emails out loud together. It is truly touching how magical words can be, even when only in black and white across a brightly lit screen.

As you know, Cindy and I have been gradually piecing our primary project together – a writer’s workshop aimed squarely at the budding future of our civilization. An essential component of our overall framework is Cindy’s online voice. Some of you already know her from her first online home, Namas Daisy, but this is not about that site.

Namas Daisy was started back in October, and has since then been a bit like a toy batted about the kitchen floor by the playful paws of a pet tabby. The site was started as a means for Cindy to dip her toe into an unfamiliar world so she could slowly saturate herself with the sights and sounds of our inevitable future. Today we are parting the curtains on a brand new site. This one’s all business.

CindyPlatt.com is Cindy’s brand new classroom. Cindy is seasoned with over twenty years of experience. Some of those years have been spent in the classroom, some at a furious clip pacing the hallways of change, and the remainder spent molding the young minds ripest for reaching.

Never in my life have I known a single soul with more to say about the current state of education and the teetering lip where it lays against our future. She has plenty to say for all parents and teachers, but her focus (at least for now) is on home schooling parents and those families who feel as though lessons learned in the classroom are merely a baseline.

Today I’ll hold brevity close, as I would like you to check out CindyPlatt.com. It is striking because it was designed by my partner David Wright, and beautiful blogs are the only kind we build over at the Inkwell. But it’s imbued with intelligence because of the well worn wisdom of my one and only wife.

Check it out and sign up for our Children Write the Future newsletter if you haven’t already.

Thanks!

Writer Dad

Filed Under: Home School Tagged With: , , , ,

How to Give Your Child a Limitless Life

May 3, 2009 By 52 Comments

istock_000001228374xsmall-copyThe world is on fire.

An inferno of evolution is sweeping the planet, pushing us faster and farther than ever before. Communication is now instant and it is those with the sharpest skills to clearly communicate who will be the ones to mine the most from the future’s rewards.

Skilled communication isn’t innate, it is taught. Too often in this right here and now however, it isn’t taught well enough. I look at the world around me and sigh; I cannot fail my children by preparing them for a world that is already sinking in the tar of extinction. I want my children to live a limitless life, and know it is verbal currency that will pay their way.

Many of today’s schools are not meeting the needs of our young writers. They need consistent modeling, time to write, a prompt or topic, and honest response and feedback. They also need exposure to a wide range of genres, text, prose and poetry.

Ask yourself the following questions. Do you know where your child is in the writing process? Where is your child developmentally?

  • Are they an emergent writer, with a basic awareness of sights and sounds?
  • Are they a developing writer, starting to insert stylized sentences into their writing while making connections to real world ideas and internal emotions?
  • Are they an independent writer, who has already internalized the writing process and exhibits their fluency with rich vocabulary and a fundamental understanding of mechanics?

Knowing where your child is at this moment will help you determine where they need to go.

My wife Cindy has been teaching now for twenty years. Her specialties are reading, writing, and early childhood development. We’ve discussed building an online school since back when five minutes for a static page was considered a speedy download. An outstanding institution must be built brick by brick or plank by plank. The virtual world’s no different. After many months of planning, our first wing of the school is nearly complete.

Our Writing Roots Writer’s Workshop will not be fully ready until September, but we will be accepting a pilot group of young writers at the beginning of summer. Spots will be given on a first come first serve basis and space will be limited.

Please sign up below if you are interested. Whether you are in public school, private school, or home school – this is for you. The newsletter is free and will offer regular tips for teaching your children to be a better writer, along with information on our upcoming pilot program. Hope to see you there.

Writer Dad

Sean Platt is a ghostwriter and dad. Receive updates in your inbox or RSS reader (for free!), twice weekly!

Filed Under: Home School Tagged With: , , , , ,

Writing is a Lifelong Habit

April 2, 2009 By 26 Comments

Writing is a Lifelong Habit

“Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.”
~Author Unknown

Writing is a Lifelong HabitAsk a room full of people to write and you will find the span of sudden feelings ranging from the joy of creation to the fear of challenge. For Sean and I it is a wonderful opportunity to both write and teach people of all ages the thrill of communicating ideas with the written word.

My favorite group to teach is the young writer.  A lot of what a student learns about writing results from their independent curiosity, purpose in school, and discovering/borrowing strategies from professional writers (whether they know it or not).

Our family celebrates the art of writing with tools to convey  meaning in every corner of our home. We embrace every opportunity to read great literature aloud to our children, several times throughout the day and without fail before bedtime. We are confident our children are internalizing the fundamental strategies of language that our favorite author’s deliver, as we model what good writers look like by our profession and daily habits.

Many of us count on our teachers to deliver writing content to our children through instruction that explicitly teaches, demonstrates and develops quality writing within a range of genres with proficiency.

GULP! But Writer Mom, what if this is not happening in my child’s school?

Whether your child attends private or public education, the non-negotiable task of the teacher is to develop a writing program that is comprehensive, consistent and clear in its process.

This writing process starts when your child enters the world. Language, reading out loud, and playing with speech through rhyme, rhythm and repetition are all part of the recipe for a budding and beautiful mind.  Young children are naturally curious and haven’t learned to feel inhibited or experience failure. They are often keen to try anything or accept any sort of modeling as long as it is delivered in a developmentally appropriate manner.

This group is my top favorite to teach next to 4th graders.

Writing from the heart with 4th graders is a joy and challenge. 4th grade is the year when the rubber and the road meet. It is by 4th grade that the years of modeling, explicit instruction, and solid reading comprehension skills are firmly set in place. If every teacher in the chain of writing (from early learning to 4th grade) has built upon the process we can then move forward, diving deeper into creativity.

We want our students to feel empowered by language, and able to express themselves through writing, visuals, music, or theater.  The bottom line is that if children can’t write proficiently, they haven’t yet completed the communication loop of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Writing is a synthesis of the language process.

So what to do if you aren’t happy with your school’s writing program?

TAKE ACTION AND ASK QUESTIONS.

  • What is the school’s writing program?
  • What content is taught and expected at each grade level?
  • What  assessments are used to validate the delivery of content and curriculum?
  • What kind of rubric are teachers using to evaluate a student’s piece of writing?
  • How often and how many minutes a day does a teacher devote to writing?
  • How many minutes does your child write per day?
  • Does your school offer a workshop for parents to help support writing at home?

Children write the future and we must never take today for granted.

Take the time to find out if your school is implementing a writing program that will empower your child to become a prepared 21st Century learner. Share your experiences about how you learned  to write  and how your child is leanring how to  write in school today. Whatever the conclusion, we must take steps needed steps to empower our youth.

Children write the future. Do you feel proud about what they are going to say?

Cindy

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Building a Bridge

February 5, 2009 By 26 Comments

“Academies that are founded at public expense are instituted not so much to cultivate men’s natural abilities as to restrain them.”

~ Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)

istock_000005059617xsmall-copy“Would you say I’m a writer, businessman or a businessman, writer” I asked Cindy as we merged into traffic.

We were on our way home from Writer’s Workshop, the writing class we teach to a room full of fourth graders each Thursday. Cindy pondered, giving the question her undivided from one light to the next.  ”Businessman, writer,” she said as I was sailing through the green.

I agreed, but it got me thinking.

I had a brief run of wanting to be a writer back when I was about 5, all the way up until age 8 or so. I use to tap out little stories on an old manual from Sears. I think most of my early work was about robots, space, and probably He-Man, though I do remember one story in particular that featured Spiderman fighting a giant snowman (I lived in Southern California and never left, lending snow a rather mystical quality to my eyes).

Unfortunately, none of these early stories has survived.

At age 8, I stopped attending the private school I’d been going to since I was two; the school where they put books in my hands so early that I have no memory of ever learning to read them.  Eventually, tuition moved from difficult to inconceivable and my sister and I migrated to the best public school our parents could manage.

Our neighborhood school was an abomination.

My oldest sister was in attendance until the day one of the teachers told my father in a conference that some kids are destined for mediocrity, and that they’d both be a lot happier if they accepted this essential truth early on.

The school was a good mile and a half from our house. Still, had the rest of us been home, we could have probably heard our father’s anger echoing across the campus hallways.

That was all he needed to pull my sister, now the senior nurse in her city’s largest hospital, from campus and enroll her in a small private school just beyond our means. My sister and I immediately followed.

The private school had no grades; the students instead encouraged to reach toward their ability. One of the biggest shocks of my life was moving from a school where my brain was given breath, to one where I was bored out of my skull, day upon day, in a never ending purgatory of doldrums and deja vu.

Bored silly and drifting through days without challenge, I acquired the art of commerce.

Baseball cards, comic books, Garbage Pail Kids, repurposed G.I.Joes (don’t ask), etc. etc. I had my own black satchel, stuffed with the stock of my mobile mercantile. I carried the bag everywhere I went and considered it at least thrice as important as my schoolbag.

I opened my first bank account when I was twelve. The bank’s official policy was thirteen, but our family flower shop was spitting distance from the bank, and since our store had an account, the manager agreed to make an exception.

The remainder of my meandering years in school hold countless stories for different days. I squirmed my way through every second, finished left early, and bought my first business at 18. Fast forward a decade and a half until one day I suddenly found myself unearthing a calling that had been buried beneath the detritus of past decades dissipated.

I’ve been thinking like a businessman a lot longer than I’ve been thinking like a writer. Now I know what must be done and I’m building a bridge to balance my abilities.

Writer Dad

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: , , ,

An Act of Kindness Throws Down Roots

February 5, 2009 By 28 Comments

An Act of Kindness

“A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions”

~ Anonymous

the kindness of strangersYesterday, I wrote a post, Sink or Swim, where I discussed discarding the safe in search of something better.  I made my leap, and have since found myself in the middle of the sea.  I first started splashing six months back, determined to ford the flood.  Though I see a gilded horizon as inevitable, it is certainly not without its obstacles.  

Being a dad can be difficult without the added weight of forging forward into the unknown.  To say I’m never scared, or never have to swallow doubt would be as ridiculous as saying I’ve an allergy to air. 

An act of kindness can shift the wind around you.  An act of kindness can be free to give and is sometimes all the giving someone needs.  

Were I swimming in a vacuum, I might have abandoned this dream long ago.  I am not.  Rather, I am fortunate to swim beside the constant support of others, alongside a community carrying a relentless belief that I will one day succeed.  That has been enough to thicken the resolve I need to see the other shore.

Yesterday, there were two people who reached out above and beyond, with a simple act of kindness.  I would like to acknowledge them here.  The first was Lori, the Space Age Sage.  In the comments she asked, “If any of us can toss you a life preserver right now, what kind would you need?”

We swapped emails and, as always, I found Lori meant exactly what she said.  An empty commenter Lori is not.  Thank you, Lori, for your constant and considerate, care.

The second person to light my day was Randi, from Foreign Quang.  She wrote a comment long enough for a post, so I asked her if I could use her words to get out of writing today.  

Here is the majority of her comment, clipped a bit for brevity.

 

Writer Dad,

I’ve got thoughts flying out in different directions because of your post, so I hope I can corral them long enough to make sense.

First off, let me start with a complaint about some women (I, being one, claim the right to rag on some of my sistahs).  When I began my blog, I thought the best thing to do was to hang out at other women’s blogs, just to get a feel for what was popular in blog land. What I saw, in large part, left me disgusted and afraid.  Time after time, I would come across a blog where the blogger thought it was cool to bash her husband or boyfriend, using the most vile terms imaginable. She would talk about what an idiot he was, about the latest stupid thing he did, or about what she would like to do to various body parts while he was sleeping. She would use language I used to associate only with men’s locker rooms, and I thought I had heard it all (having worked with men for many years).  These blogs had lots of subscribers.

I seriously considered abandoning blogging, if that’s what it took to have a successful blog.

Then, one day, while hanging out at Zen Habits, I came across a post you had written on breaking bad habits.  I followed the link to your site, and after reading a couple of posts, said to myself, “Yes! This is what blogging should be about!” The more I read, the more I became aware of the undying support you have from your wife, Daisy. In her, my faith in modern womanhood was redeemed. Here is a woman who would surely die before affixing any swear words to your name. I feel safe when reading her comments on your site, or in reading the posts on hers, that I won’t have to be subjected to a woman’s rantings about her husband. Instead, I feel a sweetness of spirit, a faith in true love, a hope for married couples everywhere. Remembering back to a post I read of yours, where Daisy encouraged you to risk it all and just WRITE, I now ask you to honor her faith by keepin’ on with the swimmin’ even when you feel as if your arms are numb with the struggle, or your lungs will burst with the next breath.

Your writing is good, and more good things will come from what you’ve built.  It’s called synergy.

Ok, next thought. Having managed a few businesses, I know it does take at least a year (in most cases) to see monetary success in a business. You may not be there yet. It seems though, that everywhere I turn there is blog with Writer Dad listed as a favorite blog. Success is not always about the money. I would rather have a blog that made peanuts than have a blog that was financially secure but resorted to ravings.

Third, and maybe final, thought.  

Sinking or swimming can be scary. Until May 2007, I was the manager of a very successful business. I made more money than my husband and worked between 60-70 hours a week. I saw my then eight year old son far too infrequently. He was suffering in school and was exceedingly insecure. My husband and I made the decision that I would quit work.  In the fall, I would become a teacher at my son’s homeschool co-op. As in NO PAY. We were frightened because we KNEW we could not make it on only one income. Yet, there is a quality of life that happens when you are forced to do without, that is very character defining.

We no longer have cable TV service. We eat out maybe once every six months. Friday I bought new clothes for the first time in three years. But I would not trade my son’s newfound security to have my old salary back. It’s not worth it. Yes, you may struggle while you write, wondering if there will ever be a payoff. I believe there will be. You have the talent. You have the support. And last but not least, you have the FANS!

Yay for Writer Dad!

 

Thanks ladies.  Your acts of kindness are much appreciated.

Writer Dad

Filed Under: Etcetera Tagged With: , , ,

Leaders Begin With Themselves

January 8, 2009 By 35 Comments

“If you touch a rock, you touch the past.  If you touch a flower you touch the present.  If you touch a child, you touch the future.”

~ Author unknown

107846054_6eb73979e9Today I’m handing the Mic to my best friend and wife.  We are teaching a writer’s workshop for fourth graders starting this afternoon, and celebrating with her very first guest post. Daisy’s ready to write full time now. Starting on Monday, you can catch her three times a week in her office over at Namas Daisy.

When it comes to setting goals and realizing results, there are 3 certain conclusions.

  • You must compete against yourself to achieve the most desired outcome.
  • When you commit yourself to a task, you are already a success.
  • The best outcomes are those earned; when you can look behind with pride in the integrity of your actions.

    • Mia’s principal gave a keynote address on Back to School night with an overview of student achievement.  We saw the overall picture of the school’s academic performance; growth, decline, and yearly progress by grade in math, reading and language arts.

    These numbers made perfect sense to me and I naturally honed in on the high stakes year – fourth grade. Fourth grade is where the rubber meets the road. It’s considered a high stakes testing year because it is the first one when students take a writing exam in addition to general testing. Fourth grade standardized scores are used as one indicator to determine placement for middle school programs such as GATE (gifted and talented) and special performing arts programs.

    Students are given a writing task and accompanying prompt. The prompt may be “Narrative Writing,” “Summary Writing,” or “Response to Literature.” The students do not know which genre will be administered, and the teacher’s goal is to ensure they are prepared for whatever is tested by the state. This year’s exam falls on March 10th.

    Mia’s principal noted the decline in scores in English-Language Arts. Sean and I looked at each other… he knew what I was thinking… this is how we could give back to our school.

    Every parent signs a school-home compact agreement requiring parents to pledge the following: “As a parent at  _______ school, I know that knowledgeable, involved, encouraging parents have children with positive attitudes toward school.  As the parent/guardian, I will do the following…

    There is a list of 6 things you agree to do. I won’t bore you with all 6, but #4 on the list, “contribute at least 10 hours of support to the school,” sent sirens through my mind. We need to teach a writer’s workshop for the 4th graders, I thought, crunching test scores in my head. Since my last position in a public school was teaching 35 4th graders how to make a habit of  lifelong writing, it seemed natural for Writer Dad and I to roll up our sleeves and get busy modeling some good old fashioned nuts and bolts.

    What do good writers do?  What does good writing look or sound like, and how do you get there?

    Needless to say, our principal was thrilled with our action plan to assist 30 students for 10 weeks in an endeavor to make them more proficient writers.  Tomorrow is day 1 of our journey.  We have our mobile classroom (a small carry-on with wheels) packed with writing tools and an agenda to bulk up, buck up and attack a prompt with confidence. Max and Mia will be in the back of the classroom writing along with the class.

    Why not? Start early, finish strong.

    We are all teachers with or without a degree. Teachers wield influence, volunteer your time to a school. You may be the only stable adult in a child’s life, the only person passing on culture or hope.  The only ones who dreams for them that they might find a brighter tomorrow.

    Daisy

    You can subscribe to Daisy’s feed (for free) here.

    Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , ,

    New Year’s Re-Solutions

    January 7, 2009 By 33 Comments

    “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”

    ~ Oscar Wilde

    resolutionsI understand the flawed logic of New Year’s resolutions.  If an intention is worth commitment, why should it require a special spot on the calendar?  A valid question, sure.

    It doesn’t, but we as humans are always in search of beginnings; few dawns are as clear as that one that doctors our final digit.

    The problem with New Year’s resolutions isn’t that they’re made. It’s that they are rarely ever kept. I myself love my resolutions. I make them each year and do my best to keep them. I write them down, commit them to memory, and make them a part of my everyday thought.

    No one gets anywhere by saying they want to do something. They arrive only after a series of steps, each moving them closer toward their goal.

    I won’t bore you with the minutia of my method, nor will I write the entire rundown of all I’ll endeavor to do this year, but I do adore the public accountability of my internet living room. So here, in no particular order, are seven things I will do by the final seconds of this new year.

    1)  I will write a song.  I use to love writing songs in my late teens (basic chord progressions + awkward lyrics = post adolescent awesome). I’ve never actually written a good one, and I’m not saying I’ll write a good one now, but I will write one to completion and share it with you here (yes, terrible singing voice and all).

    2)  I will be bilingual. This was on my list last year and I hate to admit I didn’t make it. I don’t expect to deliver any monologues en español, but I should be able to hold my own with an average third grader. I owe it to my children as well as myself.

    3) I will make my living online. Yep.

    4)  I will see a small fraction of my words in print. Last year’s list said, “I will get published.” I do that M-F now, thanks to WordPress. This year, I’d like someone else to bless my verbiage.

    5)  I will organize my digital life. Oh, I love dealing in all the digitalia, but I let it dangle way too much. I have heaps of unorganized photos and files, the pile getting harder to sift.

    6) I will read old fashioned books like I have for twenty-nine of the last thirty years. I hardly feel like a need to apologize to the written word; I’ve never loved it more. However, I have traded turning pages for browsers. I will never be half the writer I wish to be until I return to the reader I once was.

    7)  I will listen to more music. Music has gone from a large part of my life to a part of my life that is largely gone. No more. I will clear time for the occasional new artist as well as old favorites.

    Of course I have additional private resolutions.  These are public, making them so was the first step to making them happen.

    Writer Dad

    Sean Platt is a ghostwriter for hire, specializing in custom blog posts.

    Filed Under: Etcetera Tagged With: , , , ,

    Writing Without a Niche

    January 6, 2009 By 45 Comments

    “If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.”

    ~ Isaac Asimov

    without a nicheWriting without a niche is like cooking without a recipe, instinct outweighing instruction.  An excellent chef can easily surpass the written recipe by twisting his ingredients to the tang of his individual taste.  However, though cooking outside the lines stretches the possibilities of the palette, it is also probable that some people will not care for what is set upon their table.

    Writing without a niche for the last half year has been the most extraordinary experience I never saw coming.  At least my children each gave me nine full months to prepare.  I’ve enjoyed the majority of the minutes, even with a few culinary complications.  Regardless of the compliments pinging my inbox on any given day, they always share space with dissimilar sentiments.

    “My favorite posts are when you talk about your family,” are followed by “Is there any way you can make this less of a family blog?”

    “I love the way you write,” is often followed by, “Can you tell me how do you do it?”

    The freedom of writing without a niche is like the freedom found wondering around a lush island missing its harbor.

    I love to banter about starting a blog, treasure tales of my family, and adore dissection of the written word, but many people wish to read my words, minus the details of my family’s day.

    I’ve sorted it out.  As you know, Eric and I are sharing office space over at the Blueprint; my new home to discuss blogging, voice, and other general matters of business.  Soon, I’ll be sharing studio space with Dave in an endeavor equally exciting.

    This leaves the best writer on the net ready for its most certain direction since the day I uploaded Thesis.

    I have a fair idea about where I’d like to go and how I plan to get there, but I didn’t arrive at this spot without assistance and don’t intend to walk without friends beside me. Writer Dad was built on community and the insight of this community is something I give tremendous value.

    We share a winding road.  If you have ideas or suggestions, please feel free to share.  I look forward to listening.

    Also, giant thanks to everyone who spread the word about the Blueprint.  Our turnout was everything we hoped for.  Looks like I’ll be writing without a niche at WD for a while.

    Writer Dad

    Ghostwriter Dad still has to write with a niche.

    Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: , , ,

    Pen and Ink

    November 26, 2008 By 13 Comments

    I’m sprinkling a few hints about the future over at Up and Coming Blogger.  You can get it here.

    We’re almost at that time of year, when time and money disappear.

    Days are short and nights are long, filling with familiar song.

    Reds and greens, and snowy whites, dancing under festive lights.

    Dave and I exchanged some chat, rapping about just where we’re at.

    We both agree that gifts are grand, but a perfect present should be planned.

    Santa’s sack just spills with stuff (as though we don’t all have enough).

    So much of it so much the same, you could probably rearrange the names.

    When everything is assembly line, what’s the difference, hers and mine?

    That’s when the light bulb made a ding, and we heard a new idea sing.

    If you find yourself a bit adrift while searching for a perfect gift,

    Then Dave and I can lend our skill, combine our minds, create a thrill.

    You can email us a few fun facts, then sip some nog and just relax.

    We’ll curl your info into art, fully unique and bursting with heart.

    Dave will draw and I will write.  Then we’ll send the file to your delight.

    Our custom art is now yours for good.  You could have it framed (we think you should).

    You could dangle the drawing from every door, because that file lasts forevermore.

    I feel you thinking, “Well gee, how much, for all those words and art and such?”

    Get ready now for our super surprise.  Lower your jaw and widen your eyes.

    Our collective inkwell brings you art – singular, special, and bursting with heart.

    Pooling together preeminent skills, starting at fifty one dollar bills.

    Contact us now if you would like to reserve, the singular gift that you know they deserve.

    Sooner is better, there’s limited space, and surely you don’t want a frown on your face.

    Fill in the form and then we can get started, devising a gift that is sure to be hearted.

    Give your someone special a gift that they will remember forever.  Order a custom piece of art that includes unique prose and a one of a kind drawing.  Prices start at $50 (a bit more if you would like a hard copy printed and sent in the mail).  Gifts will be written and drawn on a first come first served basis.  Contact us today and let’s get the jingle bells jingling.

    Update: Dave and I joined our mutual talents at the Collective Inkwell where we now do ghostwriting and custom blog design.

    Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: , , , , , ,

    Oktober High-Five

    November 20, 2008 By 62 Comments

    Oktober 5 is a bit of a mystery.  We don’t know his name, or even the meaning behind his moniker.  This matters not at all.  Few things hold as much gravity as the wisdom in our words, and in that, Oktober has no shortage.  His posts are peerless, each one perfectly pithy.

    I’ve encountered no one else online who brandishes brevity as he.  Sometimes, there are no words, only a photograph worth a throw’s more than a thousand.  You can subscribe to his feed here.  Please enjoy his words below.

    Oktober 5

    At Least My Writing Understands Me

    One of the most frustrating things in life is not being understood, or worse yet, being misunderstood. This feeling is often expressed in the words of your typical angst-ridden teen to his parents, “You don’t know me!” It’s true, we don’t know you because you don’t know yourself.

    I’m clearly not a parent of an angst-ridden teen; I’m not middle-aged, balding, nor losing my mind. I am, however, the proud parent of a very misunderstood one-year-old boy. Despite his precocious attitude, he fails to realize that his ceaseless grunts and screams don’t translate directly into “I’m hungry” or “I want to go outside” or “I soiled myself and it’s about to leak out all over the place so please change me now.”

    Believe me, such misunderstandings have had disastrous consequences. But there is hope. One-year-old boys grow up and teenagers discover themselves. And writers write. We all come to know ourselves.

    WriterDad.com has an envious tag line: Life’s better with the right words. Our world is constantly defining itself with words. Even our feelings are being translated into drinkable quantities. The right words help us to be understood, which not only avoids misunderstandings and dirty diaper accidents, but teaches us something about ourselves.

    Who better to critique us than our own writing? After all, it knows us best; it is us. Truly, writing is a reflection of us no matter how hard we may try to put forth our best self. When the emails have stopped coming, when twitter-land is quiet, when friends have exhausted their praise, then you are left with something that understands you and speaks to you in a way no other can.

    Just as when you look in the mirror you’re the only one looking back, so too when you write your words you’re the only one to account for them. Make them good. Make them passionate. If you find the right words, you’ll find yourself, and there is no better feeling than knowing and controlling one’s self.

    Writer Dad

    Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: , , , , ,
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