Fountain Pens of Youth

As the lit mag sponsor of my school, I sensed my committee of writers was itching for an opportunity to connect. I sent out a Google Classroom message: "Are you out there? What are you doing to stay inspired?" To which I received prompt replies.

• I'm reading like crazy. 
• Listening to music. It's my happy, inspiration place.
• I'm writing the second draft of my NaNoWriMo!
• Just Dance and yoga!
• I'm trying to teach my sister to knit...when she's not driving me crazy.
• I signed up for a free Harvard online writing course.
• I get to spend a lot of time outdoors.

To bring us together, I posted a couple of writing activities over the last two days in the form of shared Google docs, and it was this view that inspired me. 

In popped the profile pics of a few wordsmiths and they wrote in delightful synchronicity. My fellow writing club friends--grownups--and I have marveled over the creative freedom and fearlessness we observe in young writers. This morning, I enjoyed watching it in real time. 

Words flowed like water, line upon line, metaphor dropped upon similes like a spring shower, and realism danced gracefully with fantasy. And when the last word was typed, not a second passed before the cursor hovered over a word up here, a letter over there. As if fairy dust were sprinkled over text, lovely writing was transformed into something even lovelier. The writing process revealed itself in only a few minutes just because I was lucky enough to log in. 

I thought of stark blank screens that have frightened ideas right out of my head in the past. Not today, mind you. Thanks, kiddos.