April 10th - National Encourage a Young Writer Day
Image provided by Scholastic
Dear Young Writer,
This is a love letter to you. And when I say love, I refer to you and the love of words, whether spoken or written. As a child, you are often told you do not know what you are talking about. In reality, childhood has a purity and wisdom that adulthood tends to wash away (if you let it). Often enough, if you talk a lot as a child, you probably have a lot to offer as a writer, and if you journal, you are already using the written word to speak for you.
As for the silent ones who don't have much to say or write, here is something life has taught me: your silence does not mean you do not have a lot to share - if anything, it means you know more than you ever let on. Sometimes we are the ones in the way of the words we need to share with the world. And I know the word "world" can seem like a lot when you hear it; sometimes, it just means the ones in the world waiting and meant to hear you.
When I say you, I need you to know that you have more than enough to begin or continue your journey as a writer no matter who or where you are. Our CEO, Oliver North, is a testament to this. As a child of former drug addicts, he was in five different foster homes by the age of 6. After surviving poverty, homelessness, and hardships, he now holds a graduate degree and is the world-renowned author of "Win Today" and a public speaker. I speak to his experience, not to say that you have to experience his level of adversity to be a writer. I am saying any level of adversity, experience, or resistance can be used to guide your pen. Let my letter to you be that "inkling" - that feeling you get that lets you know that something is there. Something in you. Whether you have already written, have thought about it, or use talk-to-text features to deliver your thoughts. I am encouraging you not to sleep on the gift of YOUR words. There is nothing like what is in you, and we over here at OTO are smart enough not to sleep on you either. As a child, your intuition and wisdom are often what humbles adults, whether they tell you or not. But we will. Who you are is more than enough and is worthy of being heard. And we cannot wait to read your words.
FYI- if you are a rapper- even if you freestyle, you are a writer, and you have some of the strongest pen game known to man (and tell them an English teacher said so).
Before I write, I let my mind go blind and let the Lord do his thing. - Tupac Shakur