Over vacation, I read my kid siblings the beginning of my chapter book for kids.
My 9-year-old sis said to tell her when I was done so she could order it from the library. I told her I’d have her read it before it was published.
A day later, I explained the concept of publishing to my 7-year-old brother.
In the meantime, my 11-year-old sister read me the first chapter of her superhero book and (unquestionably) out-wrote me all week — she was finishing chapter five when I left. I only added a 69-word paragraph to my story.
It was cool. Not just their interest, but seeing my baby sister embrace the writing process. She had two notebooks: one for her book, the other for doodles with a single page where she wrote down “the plot” (her words). It felt familiar — seeing her curled silently over her spiral bound notebook, pencil in hand, scribbling away the blank rows. It was almost like I was watching my younger self at work. And now, I’m home and that’s what I want to do. Put words together. Map out stories and then quit sitting on them, actually write, from beginning to middle to end.
Meredith Sell 