Out of the Mouths of Babes: Born to Write

As the winter school break begins, I'm happily spending time watching my grandkids as much as I can.

This evening, as I sat down and turned on my laptop, preparing to write my NovelSpaces blog, my granddaughter sat next to me with her laptop, too. She was writing a story about a young boy who is bullied. My eight year old grand who loves to read, is actually a natural born writer. I noticed her love of writing when she was about three years old. She enjoys telling stories and coming up with titles, (she actually has about fifteen titles and stories) developing characters, deciding on cover images, and writing page after page, no matter where she is or what's going on. Her imagination is uncanny. She always asks me tons of questions about story and about sentence structure. She loves to write. She is gifted. She is blessed.

It is true that most kids want to be many different things - a doctor, pilot, police officer, singer, politician, teacher, and on and on. My grand actually has a few of those professions on her list as well as claiming that she will be an author. So much so that I have promised to publish her first book, which she'll complete by her deadline of August 2011, which is set for release on her 10th birthday.

With all that said, I decided that since I had this future author sitting right next to me, I'd actually conduct a brief interview with her and ask her to give brief answers, the very first replies that popped into her head. She was so in agreement that she traded laptops with me, and typed the answers herself.

With pride, these are questions to and answers from a 3rd grader. Alexis J. is her name, and writing is her game:

1) Why is writing so important to you? Because first of all it’s fun and second of all it inspired my grandma. You might recognize this name from her books. Marissa Monteilh.

2) How does it make you feel when you write? Writing makes me feel free, like you are expressing your imagination! You know? That is how I feel when I’m writing.

3) What makes a story or a character interesting? It’s by the character’s personality. Like if the writer makes him/her mean or good or generous.

4) What do you see as your future as it pertains to writing? I see my books at Books A Million or Barnes and Noble. I actually see my books!

5) What’s your favorite book and why? Mostly, I don’t have a favorite because all books are great. There are tons of authors out there inspiring you with their books.

Out of the mouths of babes comes evidence of a God given gift. My gift comes simply from her existence. Simply because of her birth. The birth of a child of God that has discovered her love of words at a young age. Alexis J. is born to write. Keep an eye out for her debut. She "sees" her books, and so it is that you will see them as well!

Here's to all of our young folks, the next generation, and the feeling we get when their discoveries bring smiles to their faces. Feel free to share the loves and talents of your youngsters - the things that simply make them, and you, happy!

Grand Holidays and a Happy New Year!