The power of printing
Yesterday a couple of proofs of my new books were delivered.
(A proof is like a test copy to make sure the book printed the way you wanted it to, with all the pictures and pages correctly formatted).
(Thread is a wonderful little interactive story where under 5s can trace the little red line across the pages, while Iron Knights Vol 1 is an ongoing series in the vein of Pokemon, with customisable robot combatants, aimed at boys aged 8-12 who are reluctant readers. But that isn’t what this post is about.)
It’s an incredible feeling holding in your hands something that you’ve created. It feels real in a way that is unmatchable despite all the hours of hard work a digital file or a handwritten manuscript might represent. There is a massive thrill in opening up that box and finding you thing staring back at you.
It reinforced my belief in my philosophy that writing has to be real.
Persuasive essays should be sent to whoever they are trying to persuade, be they parents or school principals or politicians. Otherwise there’s no stakes. What’s the point of striving to be persuasive when it will never be read and never change someone’s mind?
Instructional texts should be used to instruct! Otherwise young writers will never understand the level of detail and order required to help someone completely understand what they’re trying to communicate. An instructional text that isn’t tested in a real life scenario is just a guess at how you might explain how to do something.
And fictional texts should absolutely be formatted, published, and printed, no matter how small or silly.
Young writers should have the opportunity to experience what it’s like to have their writing become something more than just practice, or just for them. Storytelling is humanity’s oldest profession, and no story should be restricted to the classroom.
This is the same reason we conduct science experiments rather than just watching a recording or reading about them, why we play a game of sport rather than just training the individual skills, and why money based maths is often the easiest for students to grasp. It is real, applicable, and rewarding.
Even as an adult with dozens of books under my belt, it was still a thrill to receive those printed, physical, “real” books.
Imagine what holding their work could do for a young writer.
