CCWC Teens Write!

Yesterday I forgot to talk about a special feature of CCWC—Teens Write! I've always appreciated this long-standing tradition of this conference because I have a child who writes. Both write well, but Randy felt early on God's call on him to preach and to write. His chosen genre is fantasy.

I also had the privilege of teaching him English all through high school. And since I'm a writer, I expected my students to write. Outside of the usual things high school students are expected to write, I tried to have at least one creative writing assignment each year. Some years I got braver and we went through the process of writing a short story. Other years, I limited it more. But every year I taught, I promoted Teens Write! at CCWC.

If I'm remembering correctly, Randy started going to Teens Write! when he was in eighth grade. And he attended every year after that until he went to college. He had a variety of teachers, a variety of emphases, and each year he grew a little more. When he went to college, he majored in Bible (that is his primary call) and minored in Creative Writing. The Christian university he attended has a strong creative writing program. (One of his professors within the program was Jamie Langston Turner, a several time Christy Award winner.) All of his teachers were excellent, and I learned more about writing through Randy giving me tips from his various classes.

So the natural progression from Teens Write! to the full conference went into play at the end of his freshman year. Since "graduating" from Teens Write! he's attended three full conferences with me. Such fun to spend a weekend sharing our writings goals and immersing ourselves in it.

If you have a teen, or know of a teen who would benefit from a Saturday afternoon immersed in writing, please consider Teens Write! Go to the conference Web site and check it out.


Daily Bible reading: Saturday, March 8—Job 5–7; 1 Corinthians 3
Sunday, March 9—Job 8–10; 1 Corinthians 4
Monday, March 10—Job 11–13; 1 Corinthians 5