Today,, a new and exciting chapter for me, Killian McGee, has accepted me as a creative writing mentor at Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady, New York.
We’ve gotten right to work.
Killian is an 11th-grade student at the school; he wants to write in the horror genre when he gets older.
He says he loves to write but isn’t a great reader. And what he loves to write is horror stories.
He wants to be a writer. I want to help him do that.
His favorite author is Stephen King, a good choice as a role model. King is a wildly popular horror genre writer but also a terrific literary writer.
Killian has been writing since the fifth grade and has been a student of Trish White, a teacher and the head of Bishop Gibbon’s English Department, for three years. Trish brought the two of us together in her classroom today and sat in on our first meeting.
She has encouraged his writing.
She says he’s the real deal.
She is also quite impressive, and I hope she will sit in on every meeting if she can and wants to. I love having a teacher right in there with me.
(Killiam and his teacher, Trish White.)
I liked Killian immediately; he is quiet but not shy, wise but not loud, severe but not grim, confident but not arrogant.
He is also courteous for a teenage boy; I pegged him as a real thinker, thoughtful and careful.
And I stopped him from opening doors for me. I’m not Prince Charles, I said. And call me Jon.
I told him I was a best-selling author and about my career.
He has a sense of humor and even laughed at a few of my jokes.
I did get him smiling and relaxing pretty quickly.
He needs to be comfortable around me, which isn’t always easy for people.
Killiam loves to bowl, and music is a real passion for him, especially rock from the ’70s and ’80s.
I suspect he is not a crowd joiner or follower; there is something purposeful and mature about him.
We talked for an hour as I tossed ideas and suggestions at him.
He was honest in his responses. He knows what he likes and doesn’t. He isn’t a butt-kisser.
He seemed to have impressive inner confidence; he likes what he writes and doesn’t do the self-deprecating thing of the young writer – speaking ill of his work.
I suggested a daily journal for him to start a blog and write daily. That’s how young writers get started in 2022.
I told him my motto when I began writing or thought I was too busy was: if I’m too busy to write every day, then I’m too busy to be a writer.
I think of it often.
I asked Killian if he had a unique story or experience in his life that has stayed with him.
He told me this wonderful story of the time when he was at a bowling championship and got up to roll the balls, and he just froze.
As he told it, I saw it was his horror study. I noted he gave great detail about how a good bowler bowls, moves, and thinks.
All of them went out of his head that day.
Trish jumped in, and the three of us kicked around some horror narratives focused on a bowling alley (like the kid who works out of sight in the lanes programs one or two of them to kill somebody…) A short story, perhaps, I said.
I noticed he was smiling. Killian couldn’t remember how to stand or move; he just froze.
I asked him why that happened, and he said he didn’t know. He remembered little about it.
“Well, you’ve got your first short story with me,” I said.
“Write that just as you told me and e-mail it to me – all the details, paint a picture with words. I’ll read it and give you feedback, and let’s agree right now to be honest with others. I’ll tell you what I think honestly – I won’t treat you like a piece of crystal – , and you tell me what you think honestly. We’ll slug it out.”
We were texting back and forth this evening, and I told him to contact me anytime if he needed to walk.
“OK, do you want to talk about it when we meet in person, or should we talk about it at an earlier time?”
I said it was up to him. He probably would need a few days to recover from me and let all the ideas flying between us around settle. I didn’t want to overwhelm him, just get his juices flowing.
No rush, no pressure, I said.
“OK,” he wrote back, “I’ll probably give it a day then. Let my mind storm up some ideas.”
I loved that idea of storming up ideas. We’re going to have fun storming up some good writing together.
There isn’t anything better than working with students! You must have hope for the future when you see the desire and social activism of today’s students.
Joanne, I’m so impressed with the refugee and other students I’ve been working with. THey teach me a lot more than I can teach them.
Speaking of horror writers with a successful blog, Scott Sigler is wildly successful. Check him out. He also came up with podcasting a few of his early novels a chapter at a time which gave him a loyal following. ?
Thanks for the recommendation, Bryn, I’ll be honest, I don’t read horror books, I suppose that might change..
What a gift you two are going to be to one another.
He is lucky to have you Jon. My mentor was sent to me through sheer grace, and I will be forever grateful. I love how excited YOU are about working with HIM.
Killian can definitely learn much from you.
And me from him..
I’ve heard several writers say that you can’t be a writer unless you’re also a reader. What are your thoughts on that?
KJ, I don’t pay much attention to people who say who can be a writer or not. There are no requirements; anybody can be a writer who wishes to be or who writes. Nobody else gets to define them or set rules and regulations. That’s my notion, anyway. Online, everybody thinks they can tell other people what to do. As a writer, I feel quite free to define myself. I decided to be a writer when I was 8. That’s what I am.
A teacher/mentor needs to be careful with a new young writer and protect his developing self confidence. In the past you have been quite hypercritical with your readers, even going to the bizarre extent of contacting — hostilely — your amazon reviewers directly. 2nd, you will help him more if you show some humility. Explain honestly that your “best sellers” was in a very narrow niche market (that we ALL adore, dogs) not really revealing the craft of writing per se, but mediocre and meandering. Your mentee’s interest right now (and youth change their tastes as they move through their late 20s) is a much broader genre whose readers are more sophisticated about the elements of the genre.
Enthusiastic support helps new writers if you focus on what is strong in their writing, not pointing out negatives or bragging and inflating yourself.
Definitely we agree on Stephen King. This must be a latest edition
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816
Alex, thanks for your lesson on teaching writing to the young. I wish I had known you while teaching creative writing at NYU or the various middle and high schools where I’ve been invited to teach.
I’ve taken the liberty of forwarding your message to Killian, he’s contemplating starting a blog, and this will be a timely educational tool and lesson to prepare him for what he might expect – and to forewarn him so he might also learn just how hypocritical and mediocre I am, and flee while he has the chance.
I’ve suggested he read the blog and the comments, so he might already know what an odd duck I am; I even defend my books online. I practice transparency and teach it as well. I put my real name on everything I write; perhaps you, Alex, might do the same.
I’m sure you won’t mind being a teaching point since you have so much to say about the craft of writing and the young. I think it would be helpful for you to write me – at [email protected] – or post here if you prefer, so Killian and I can see what it is you are doing to teach writing to the young and protect them from people like me.
There might be something for him to learn; everything is a teaching experience.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Dare I hold my breath?
Thanks in advance, Jon
P.S. I’m so glad Alex was around to tell me not to abuse my students if I want to teach them. I could never have come to this myself.
As I guessed, Alex is suddenly speechless; he has nothing to offer in the way of advice or expertise beyond name-calling that anyone could possibly use. I won’t be hearing from him again. Without a computer to hide behind, he’s not so tough. The lesson for Killian is to expect people like that to show up and either disregard them or call them out. Both are good options for me.
People like this have nothing to do with reality, one way or the other. I’ll tell Killian never to let the trolls get to your confidence; they are parasites, not real critics. That lesson is valuable, Alex, and thanks.
This is a great first lesson for my student. So long, Alex, have a good life and pick a better target next time.