Want To Make A Big Impression? Forget Email. Pick Up A Pencil!

Three weeks ago, I spoke at the Lenz Elementary School in Reno. I already wrote about the amazing kids and their intense interest and intelligent questions.

Not long after, I got a thick envelope in the mail. It contained 81 thank you letters from the kids. Yes, the letters were great fun and eye-opening. But what first struck me was that they were almost all hand-written, a rare thing these days, and something that guarantees a closer look than a letter done on a computer. (Of course, when a 9-year-old sends a perfectly formatted letter written on a computer, that is impressive, too.)

The kids' letters were sincere and sweet, but also creative and funny. I burst out laughing multiple times as I read through them. There is no question that some of those kids have a writing career waiting for them, should they choose to pursue it.

I couldn't pick an favorite, but here is one that was fun:

"Dear Mr. Borg,
Thanks for coming to our school. I hope I read your books someday, they sound amazing! I want to be a writer like you. And thank you for telling us to have perseverance and determination. I want to write a book about Romance and the name would be Dripping Mascara!
Sincerely,
Giovanna"

Well, Giovanna, when you publish Dripping Mascara, please let me know, because I will be first in line to buy it!

Many of the kids had some great lines in their letters:

Jazmine wrote: "I think (writing) would be a good choice for me because I am very, I mean VERY creative."

Jiana wrote: "Have you ever heard about the mysterious island in the middle of the lake (Tahoe) that only comes out in the middle of the night?"

Jack wrote: "You made me want to become a writer because I want to sleep in a lot."
(I'd told the kids that writers get to stay up as late as they want and sleep as late as they want.)

Sam wrote: "It's amazing how you get paid to make things up."

Reese wrote: "I like how your imagination can go wild and do anything you want with the story. I also like to think how these things could be real in a parallel universe."

Jake wrote: "I want your suit because it is very cool and spy like."

Jared wrote: "Have you heard the myth that there are hundreds of bodies at the bottom of Lake Tahoe and they don't decompose because of the cold water temperatures and lack of bacteria?"

And then there were some zingers! Just to be careful, I won't include the writer's names because they may have simply made Freudian slips.

One kid wrote: "I can tell you are going to be a good book writer in a couple of years."

Another wrote: "You did a pretty good job on your books."

What's not to love? Kids are great fun!