Anyone can be a good writer!

Writing is fun! Anyone can be a good writer. The important thing is to write about what you know. To get started, create an Authority List of ten things you know something about. Then choose one topic from your list.

Picturing this topic in your mind, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I see?
• What do I hear?
• What do I smell?
• What do I taste?
• What do I feel?

Now, go ahead and start writing. Write as if you were talking to a friend. Just tell your story. Don’t worry about punctuation or spelling. Don’t worry about how your writing sounds. Just write.

Put your piece away for a day or two.

Now you can reread and edit your work as follows:

• Check punctuation.
• Check for misspelled words.
• Do your sentences make sense?
• Check for missing words.

Tip for editing:

• Reading your piece out loud will enable you to more easily find any corrections/changes needed.

Most importantly, have fun!

By Coralie Cederna Johnson