A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

The following email was sent to one of our The Writer’s Jungle Online instructors. Both our manual, The Writer’s Jungle  and our online class, The Writer’s Jungle Online, offer the kind of instruction that moves you from writing task master to writing ally and coach. Your kids discover that writing is about conveying what they want to communicate and share with others, not what they are supposed to do to fulfill the demands of a curriculum. (Names have been changed for privacy.)

Dear Rachel,

As I began this class, I lamented how I had ruined my son’s creative process over the years by red penning him to death. That knee-jerk reaction to correct every small thing is a very hard one to overcome and I still need to freeze myself every now and again.

You have shown me your effective technique of “celebrate one small thing.”

And Malcolm has taken off and flourished over the past six weeks. And my sore lip from biting has healed. Thank you.

Over the weekend, Malcolm pulled up some of the long stream-of-consciousness stories he wrote when he was 6 and 7 years old. I showed him some of his assignments from the “dark days of writing” when he was 8 and 9 years old and Mom’s red pen ruled. It was an interesting process to see what he used to write and what he has now written for you.

He is amazed and proud of how much progress he has made.

Interestingly, Malcolm has begun to share his story with friends and one mom thanked me because he has inspired her son to begin writing. You may recall my 7 year-old daughter began her own long story in her journal. Midway through the class, I noticed Malcolm’s bedroom light on late into the evening. One night, I peeked in and he was sitting on his bed, writing in his journal. That used to be something I had to tell him to do. The floodgates have opened and words are rushing past.

My husband is a professional writer (on the side) and has one financial book published and is working on another. I can’t resist using another metaphor here, but taking KWB has had a trickle-down effect for him too. He is finding more time to write because he sees his kids writing instead of spending time on the internet or playing computer games.

Also, because of my husband’s status as the “published author,” I had become very tentative and worried about my efforts to lead our son through the process. How could I do this when I’m not the “professional” in the house?

I’m feeling more confident now, thanks to you.

I CAN be a writing coach and Malcolm is now bumping me off the computer so he can continue his story. I’d say this experience was an unqualified success.

With appreciation,

Jane
(and Malcolm)