Write well - read more

What a great day! I don't say that everyday but this one was especially memorable.

Our English Lit. class hosted a guest speaker today, the journalist, Russ Pulliam. He is an elder at the Indy RP Northside congregation, and has been a reporter/editor for many years. The Pulliams have six kids who they've homeschooled. Russ also teaches writing classes to high schoolers and kids in Jr. High too (I think.) Barry (our pastor) had contacted me during the summer and suggested that I get in touch with Russ about coming to our school to conduct a writing workshop. So a few weeks and emails later, it all came together. My English Lit. class which normally has ten students ballooned to twenty-five today with the homeschool guests who showed up.

Russ's presentation was highly motivational with encouragement to write well. He said that many times folks may get to know you long before they ever lay eyes on you though your writing. I'm sure that happens all the time in the blogsphere. So you want to put your best foot forward (and never display your shallow wit by using overused cliches.) You are what you write! (I'm so clever!)

Gosh, going to hear him makes a blogger kinda nervous. I guess I wouldn't ever pick up a pen or sit down at the computer if I thought I had to put down every word perfectly. Of course, I don't think that he was expecting writing perfection (if there is such a thing outside the Bible.)

A point that Russ emphasized was that we all should think about the consequences of our writing - especially on the Internet and on email. We should just be careful of our honor and the honor of Christ. As Proverbs 3:35 says, The wise will inherit honor, but fools display dishonor.

Still everyone knows that blogging tends to be conducted in a more casual manner. To me, one of the beauties of blogging is the relaxed, revealing nature of it. It's a place where people get to know each other. That's nice and that's the part of blogging that appeals to me.

Another major point he emphasized was that we all should read at least 20 minutes every day. Some fun reading, some biography/history, and some devotional reading. Good advice. He was speaking to upper high school students and he knows that they're all very busy, but he said that some day they will realize in hindsight that they aren't really busy now. As adults they'll say, "I wasn't busy then, NOW I'm busy!"

Much to munch on.
(Oh, and he would frown upon that dangling preposition there.)