Every day, I love opening my mailbox to see letters from my young readers nestled inside.  Their notes come in from all over the country and world - and in case their authors are wondering, I do read all of them and try to respond to each one in a timely manner.  Nothing beats a handwritten note; email will never replace the art of handwriting.  Personality shines through differently on paper than it does on a computer screen.  So, keep those letters coming.

Many of my readers are aspiring writers, and they usually ask for advice on going pro.  Sometimes they include samples of their work: short stories, poems, and so on; one eleven-year-old sent me a bound, illustrated manuscript over 100 pages long!  It was very impressive.

A few weeks ago, a ten-year-old named Annabella Nootebos of British Columbia sent me a letter and included a graphical short story in the envelope.  It delighted me so much that I asked her permission to reprint it here.  “Diary of a Sapling” tells the tale of a young tree’s early experiences in the world.  Click on this link to see the full story:

Diary_of_a_Sapling.pdf

It is a very bold and sophisticated work for such a young writer: told in the first person with humor, quirkiness, and confidence; such a definitive voice!  I also loved how the design was mocked up to resemble a book.  There’s also quite a bit of gallows humor there; Miss Nootebos is my kind of girl.

I hope you enjoy her story.  In the meantime, I will offer to other young aspiring authors the advice I gave to Miss Nootebos: a writer’s job is to notice things about the world that no one else sees, and then describe those things beautifully and effectively.  Observing the details is your job. 

And above all: practice, practice, practice—and then practice some more.

- lmmb