No problem—-all high school students love editing, right?*

*(tongue planted firmly in cheek)

I built the whole morning around the theme (which we chanted like hockey fans): “Great stories. Told well.”

By the end of the class, I’d managed to gather a number of converts. I think it was the live exercise we did about adverbs and speech tags that won them over. You could see the lights turning on, and smiles as they realized-—perhaps in stunned amazement—-that editing is a co-equal part of the creative process.

And, believe it or not, fun.

So much fun, as it turned out, there wasn’t enough time for me to read and comment on some of the students’ works-in-progress. But in a flash of inspiration, I remembered Jonas Saul‘s example.

At the conclusion of a workshop (on editing, of course), Jonas offered to do a free “red pencil” for anyone in class that day. Of course, I took advantage of his generosity, and his feedback was helpful and encouraging. Jonas has been a valuable voice in my writing journey ever since.

The next thing I knew, I was—-unrehearsed and unplanned—-making the same offer to the students. Their response was unanimous, and I left the class with a ton of homework in my laptop case.

It’s fun to teach and encourage aspiring authors. I know how much I’ve appreciated Jonas Saul’s input into my life as a writer, and it was both humbling and gratifying to “pay it forward” with some talented teenagers.

Now, if y’all will excuse me, I’ve got a stack of “red pencil homework” awaiting my attention.