I’m writing today’s blog entry from VIA Rail Train 29, heading back from Quebec City to Montreal. I spent the day in Beauport, doing writing workshops with students at Ecole Secondaire de la Seigneurie.

I’ve entitled today’s blog Write MORE. It’s part of the writing advice teacher Miss Rodrigue printed up on the back of her students’ writing notebooks. And of course, I love it! I was telling Ms. Rodrigue’s students that, when I was growing up, teachers used to tell us, “It’s quality – not quantity!” (I think it was because they didn’t want to correct long stories – and later, when I became a teacher, I understood the sentiment.) But you know what? Those teachers were WRONG. In order to develop as writers, we need to write A LOT. And we definitely need to write MORE!!

I worked with two of Miss Rodrigue’s classes (first the Sec 2’s, then her Sec 3’s), and I ended the day with Ms. Jennifer’s Sec. 3 class. In addition to sharing the writing tips I wish someone had shared with me when I was dreaming of becoming a published author, there was time for the students to do a writing exercise and for them to ask me questions they had prepared in anticipation of my visit.

One of my favourite questions came from a student named Thomas-Alexandre: “If the writing profession didn’t exist, what would you be?” I actually HAD NO ANSWER. (Which is unusual for me since I love talking about writing!) But I came up with an answer just now on the train! Thomas-Alexandre, I’d be LOST and MISERABLE if the writing profession didn’t exist. But I think you were really asking which other job I might have done and I think it would be teacher, which, by the way, I did do – and enjoyed for nearly every single day of my 35-year career!

Some other interesting and/or sweet moments from today:

A student named Blanche – love the name and may need to steal (okay borrow!) it for a future book project. Also Blanche was wearing a chemise blanche. WHAT IF (I was telling the students how writers love to ask WHAT IF?!) my character named Blanche always wears white?

During the writing exercise, Romie described a friend she made through Instagram. Romie gave me permission to quote the following beautiful line: “I became a better version of myself because of her.” Ahh, don’t you just love that – the writing, and of course, the feeling behind it? All our friends should make us better versions of ourselves!

When we were discussing the importance of doing research for our stories, a student named Eunice told us she has hardly any memory of growing up on the Ivory Coast, where she lived until the age of four. Luckily, she has her parents as well as cousins, whom she plans to ask about what living there was like. I’m betting that by interviewing those relatives, Eunice will reawaken some of her own childhood memories. And I’m hoping those – in combination with her research – will lead to an important story.

I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME FIND THE NOTES I TOOK IN THE AFTERNOON! SO IF SOMEONE AT SCHOOL FINDS THEM TOMORROW (THEY MIGHT BE IN MS. JENNIFER’S CLASSROOM), CAN YOU TAKE A PIC OF THEM AND SEND THEM TO ME??)

I am going to tell you a little about my work with the students this afternoon, but it’s less fun without my NOTES! Okay … here goes – and if I don’t have the right spellings for your names, can you let me know in the comments section and I’ll fix them!

When I walked into Miss Rodrigue’s second class, a student said ,“Hello Monique.” I asked him his name and he told me it was Shawn. (Did I spell that right?) Then a moment later, he asked me, “What’s your name?” – which cracked me up since he already knew it! But I must say that Shawn stole my heart because I know he was trying to be super polite and friendly with me.

I also met a student named Lorianne (Lorianne, I bet you’re reading this blog, so send me the correct spelling, okay?!). I could feel that like many of the other students, Lorianne is FULL OF STORIES. She stayed after class to chat with me about stories – and hair. Not only are we both extroverted, but we also both have curly hair!

Last class of the day, I worked with Ms. Jennifer’s students. Ms. Jennifer had told me they were a quiet group, but that they had worked hard preparing questions for me. The questions were anonymous, but every time I read one, I couldn’t resist asking, “Who came up with this question?” A student named Michael made me laugh because he claimed to have written all the best questions.

But it turns out that he did come up with the question, “What is the greatest challenge you ever faced as a writer?” I thought that was BRILLIANT and I’ve certainly never been asked it before. I told the students that the hardest part was the period at the beginning of my career when I could not sell a manuscript – and I also told them how, at the time, my dad advised me to give up on writing books for kids. BUT I DIDN’T LISTEN, DID I? Which prompted me to add a new writing tip to my list: “Even if someone tells you to, never give up on something that really matters to you.”

Well, I suppose I managed to write this blog entry even without the notes I scribbled this afternoon. Which teaches us another lesson: ALWAYS TAKE NOTES and DO NOT LOSE THEM!

Special thanks to Miss Rodrigue for arranging my visit to Ecole Secondaire de la Seigneurie, and to Ms. Jennifer for having me come to work with your students too. And an extra special thanks to the students – I had so much fun being with you all today. Thanks for being good listeners, good participants, hardworking writers – and coming up with so many great questions!