Tuesday, August 7, 2012

small good things: writer girl

My daughter finished her stint as a Youngzine Young Editor a few days ago. She sent in her last essay, attaching it with a smiley face, as she always does. I am so proud of her. And she is so proud of herself!

The last essay, her sixth, was a hard one—she had already written 5 articles in 6 weeks and was pooped. Full-up with words, and all out of words, at the same time. She's only 9 after all—5 essays is a lot of work for a kid!

But we talked about it, and talked some more. Was it worth sticking it out to finish what she'd set out to do? This was the last week and it was only one more essay. We talked about commitments and obligations. Could she do it? If she wanted, she had the choice to write to them and pull out a week early. She did want to, but she didn't at the same time. There were long talks, hours spent researching the final essay and some writing…then more long talks, more researching, and tears. It was so tough, but she was so close.

So she stuck it out.

On Sunday morning (this being the third weekend in a row spent writing articles!) she finished her draft. She was 150 words short. I sat with her and gave her feedback. I asked questions and showed her areas that could use more detail. We looked at sources together. We sat so close on the couch, just two writer girls, working. And at lunchtime…she was done. Done! Wow. She wrote her last email, attached the article, and sent it off.

Huge smile!

We high-fived, and we hugged, and I thought, "How cool is this kid?" The work was as hard as high school, maybe even university. To meet a deadline every week for seven weeks but one—that's a pretty big deal for anyone. And she wrote her butt off, every single time. Worked so hard, learned so much, was so focussed, and she persevered to the end. What an amazing girl. What an inspirational human bean.


Here are my girl's articles. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I do!















(All photos are courtesy of Youngzine. I really, really like this magazine. It's wonderful, and an awesome resource. Not only are the editors kind, generous and helpful, but at the magazine's heart is the education and empowerment of kids. All of my favourite things!)


9 comments:

  1. Congratulations to your amazing girl and to you as well Helena. They are great essays and I enjoyed reading them.

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  2. Ohhh this makes me so happy! Yay for your girl! Obviously, she's a talented writer, but her perseverance and courage are what produced these essays. That's HARD and she's so young and she did it. And kudos to you for being such a supportive, guiding mom, helping her achieve her goal. I'm so glad you included links to her essays. I'm going to go read them. Please tell her a big "congratulations" from me!

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  3. That is an amazing accomplishment, Helena! You must be so proud! The articles are very interesting. Truly impressive work, especially for someone who is nine.

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  4. Wow, what a talented writer she is! I'm impressed, but not surprised :)

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  5. What a huge accomplishment. I am off to read them. We have that Klimt picture in our house. Well not the original of course. ;)

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  6. I am really, really impressed by your daughter's writing. It would be great even if she wasn't as young as she is! It's a lot of work writing on a deadline. I wonder if she'd want to take on this type of writing project again?

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  7. She's NINE?!? Those are GREAT, Amelia. Fabulous job! Your mom has every right to be vastly impressed and proud of you.

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  8. Just had you on my mind this afternoon Helena. Hope your world is beautiful. Hugs!!

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  9. Congratulations to Amelia!

    My own 9 year old has been totally turned on to Youngzine because of your blog here, and he's commented on some of your daughter's work there. It is a fabulous space and I wanted to thank you for bringing it to our attention.

    Your daughter has every right to be proud of herself! :)

    Claudia in Maine

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I love hearing from you! Thank you for your heartfelt, thoughtful responses—they lift me, and give me light.