Authors in the Schools: Motivating and Inspiring the Next Generation of Writers

By Elizabeth Jorgensen with Nancy Jorgensen

In the Classroom

As my teenage creative writing students compose, they read mentor texts and notice how writers craft. They recognize third-person and first-person POV. They identify narratives, vignettes, and poems. My students often ask me about my writing process and how I structured my first book, Go, Gwen, Go: A Family’s Journey to Olympic Gold. This text flips between a mother and sister’s perspective. We wrote the book after my sister Gwen qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games, suffered a flat tire, and proclaimed her goal to win gold in 2016.

Students also ask me about my most recent project: Gwen Jorgensen: USA’s First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete. This book was written for them—and all middle grade and young adult readers. It is a story of disappointment, failure, change, growth, and accomplishment. I wrote this book in collaboration with my mom and sister, hoping to inspire young artists, athletes, and academics, to follow their own dreams. We used two timelines: one following Gwen in the days leading up to the Olympics, and one following Gwen from elementary school through college. We added sidebars, letters, and worksheets to make the text both informative and interactive. Students say these ideas help them see possibilities for their own pieces. They also say they are energized by a writing teacher who writes. She’s doing the same things they are: writing and sharing her words with the world.

Authors in the Community

As part of the Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books, my co-author Nancy Jorgensen served as one of several writers interacting with students. She presented her experience as a teacher, writer, and mom whose daughter went from typical student to Olympic gold medalist. She offered information about the writing process, how to search for editors, and how to connect with a publisher. She encouraged students to use their talents in writing and other pursuits.

After her appearance, one parent shared what her daughter said: “I found out today the Olympian Gwen Jorgensen sat in the same desk as me and her dreams came true, and if I work hard, my dreams can come true too.”

Students said they were encouraged by both the book’s subject matter and the process of writing and publishing. The book introduced them to an average midwest kid with big dreams. Students realized there will be setbacks and challenges in any endeavor; that success is possible with a support team, consistency, and daily work; and that discovering personal talents is the best reward. For students interested in a writing career, the mystery around queries, editing, and marketing was removed. Meeting a community member who navigated the process made it seem doable.

After Nancy’s talk, we presented our author experience to students in six writing classes at Arrowhead Union High School students in Hartland, Wisconsin.

For us, the presentations were an opportunity to share a unique experience, inspire young writers, and pay forward the results of our hard work. Teachers told us they also benefited from the presentation and planned to invite other authors to interact with their students.

Benefits of Student-Author Interactions

Writing information
Editing information
Publishing information
Opportunity to ask a writer questions
Content knowledge
Inspiration
Exploration of writing’s possibilities

Finding Guest Speakers

Writers are interested in presenting to classrooms, student clubs, and sports teams—teachers need to just reach out. Many libraries and bookstores keep contact information on local writers and are happy to facilitate a connection. A local newspaper is another good resource. Columnists and reporters will often make school visits. Social media messages are a way to communicate directly with authors.

My writing students have heard from several novelists including Liza Wiemer, the award-winning author of The Assignment, and Amy Reichert, the author of six novels, published by Gallery Books and Berkley. Both Wiemer and Reichert led my students in writing activities and taught them about

the importance of readers and editors;
transitioning from writing to editing to marketing to publishing;
finding a publisher; and
persistence and faith in a writing project.

In addition to novelists, my students have heard from other authors. When my students read articles by Crocker Stephenson in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (our hometown newspaper), I reached out to him via email. Stephenson offered to present on his writing process as well as the journalism profession. Stephenson spoke in the school auditorium and all interested students were invited to attend.

The Pulitzer Center offers free talks from journalists. To schedule this, email them to set up a virtual presentation via Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or another platform of your choice.

The Wisconsin Poet Laureate has also presented to my classes. Students heard firsthand from Kimberly Blaeser about careers tied to writing and the arts. After her presentation, students said they felt moved; students also said they enjoyed learning and practicing new literary techniques.

All of these writers have presented free of charge and one of the most rewarding (and fun!) parts of author talks is the Q&A. Students typically ask questions about a book’s themes (Olympic training, funding, drug testing, travel, and coaching) or about the writing process (royalties, writers’ workshops, query letters, promotion, and time required to complete a book project).

Consider asking your guest author to provide students with information about publishing opportunities: youth writers groups, local writing competitions, and national writers’ markets for teens. Important as well is to involve students in the presentation. Many speakers will lead students through an exercise or a writing prompt or encourage students to try collaborative writing.

What Students Said

“I had no idea how many little tasks the job of an author entails. I also had never heard of a copy editor, but it seems like an interesting career that I will read about further.”
“Thank you for talking to us and sharing your story on how you became a writer and what being a writer is like. It was very interesting to hear that you never thought you would be a writer. It makes me wonder if one day the same thing will happen to me.”
“You made many interesting points during your talk. What was most memorable was it’s so easy to change the whole plot of the book with just one passage, which can potentially ruin the book. It also was funny how your husband is one of your editors.”
“I really enjoyed learning about the process behind writing and publishing a book. Often speakers skip over the details of the specific people involved in the process or the exact steps. So thanks again!”
“It impressed me how many times you were told no yet still didn’t give up. It made me want to work harder.”

“What I learned is that hard work is a good thing. If you put in hard work, a positive outcome is more of a possibility.”
“The presentation was eye-opening to see how much time it takes for someone to write books.”
“I learned that writing is never finished, even after something is published.”
“I really did not know that the writing and publishing process took so long.”
“[It’s] cool how you guys didn’t stop after getting rejected by so many publishers.”

Final Tips

If you don’t know who to invite, consider reaching out to professionals at local nonprofit organizations, museums, universities, or libraries. Community members can connect you with authors or offer speaker ideas. Students (like members of the high school’s National Honors Society, for example) or volunteers may also present to groups of students, the class, or your school.

Think creatively about who might be able to assist you in coordinating these opportunities. Several guest speakers have been parents of my students (like Reichert!) or connected to the parents of my students. One mother, who heard of previous author talks, sent me an email. Poet Cristina Norcross said, “If you’d like a guest visitor to either your creative writing class or your monthly writing club, I’d be happy to do a Q&A about submitting to magazines or what it’s like to be a lit mag editor/poet. Perhaps in the spring. As an author yourself, you are able to provide a wealth of info for your students, but I just thought I’d offer.”

Once you set up one author talk, the benefits will naturally follow and compound: students will share the powerful experience and spread the word. Perhaps authors, poets, journalists will begin reaching out to you as well to offer their services.

Before inviting authors in, check with your school. Policy may require guest speakers to complete background checks or paperwork.

Many authors will present virtually in addition to in-person. This is useful for authors who are not local.

Although students were surprised by the time it takes to write and publish, many were curious about exploring the writing and publishing process themselves. We hope they realize that they too are writers—all they need to do is keep writing.

Authors

Elizabeth Jorgensen and Nancy Jorgensen are a mother/daughter writing team. Elizabeth is a creative writing teacher, and Nancy is a retired music educator. They recently collaborated on a MG/YA biography of their sister and daughter: Gwen Jorgensen: USA’s First Olympic Gold Medal Triathlete.