Return Visit to James Lyng

Talk about body language! Have a look at today's pic -- that's Cedric, a student at James Lyng High School here in Montreal, who was hiding under his T-shirt during the first part of my visit today. (But I noticed that once I got to talking about writing, and especially about my book What World Is Left, Cedric emerged from under his T-shirt! Besides, he had an excuse -- he told me he was cold.)

Anyway, I'm always telling students how I feel the air is"thick with stories." Well, it certainly is at James Lyng. I worked with three groups of students, all of whom are taught by Mrs. Bourne. One student told me that Mrs. Bourne is "like a second mother to us."

So here's a few bits and pieces from my day: A student named Derrick responded to an exercise I gave about retrieving a memory by writing a short paragraph about coming up empty. I suggested he might turn it into a poem -- I had the strong feeling that Derrick has a poetic soul -- and you know what? He wrote something lovely, and very moving.

I told the students that like working out, writing requires constant practice. Then a student named Amber explained how she plays football with her brothers every single day. I thought that was a great example, and I imagine Amber plays a pretty good game of football! Amber, keep working on the writing, too. Slowly, you need to build your skills and endurance -- just like with football!

Matthew wrote a fine descriptive paragraph set during World War II. Lahteisha understood immediately when I said my stories start with a little bit of something true -- I knew it from her eyes and also because she said, "then you expand on it." Which is exactly what I do: start with something true, then let it expand in my mind by asking myself the question, "What if?"

And Ashley Tibbo, what can I say? Your writing showed me that you are a writer. Not to mention that you have a perfect writing name. I can already imagine it on a book cover!

Have a great weekend all of you. This was a special week for me -- in which I got to meet many special inspiring young people at Beurling and at James Lyng. Get started on the stories that matter most to you!