Hello everyone. I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a busy couple of weeks. I attended a writer’s conference last weekend and this week I had an author night at one of our local bookstores. I’m also putting some finishing touches on my latest WIP and I’ve got another one going strong. So it’s a busy time for me.
During the writing conference we were asked to answer the question: why we write?
Photo via VisualHunt
There’s a different answer for each and every author. Some do it out of love for the written word. Others do it because they feel they have something important to say. Still others do it just to silent the voices in their heads. Whatever the reason, you must keep writing. We need books now more than ever.
I learned while at this conference that 40% of public schools no longer have a librarian. Isn’t this sad? It’s just one more responsibility heaped upon our already over-extended and stressed out teachers to instill a love of reading for their students.
Photo credit: Super Furry Librarian via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-SA
But how can they do that if there aren’t new and exciting books? That’s where we, the storytellers come in. We need to write as many quality stories as we can. We need to entice our readers to fall in love with our books so they’ll want to keep reading. This is incredibly important. Why?
Because right now ninety one million people are functionally illiterate in the United States alone. That means they can’t read, write, or use numbers sufficiently well to get along in society. Every year at least a million functionally illiterate students graduate from America’s high schools. This is an epidemic.
We need to turn this around. It is up to us the authors to do this. The teachers can’t do it by themselves. I know what some of you may be thinking. Ninety one million people? So what? It’s their problem not mine.
Well. You’re wrong. It is your problem because you may have to deal with someone who’s illiterate in your life. Maybe at work. Maybe as a customer or client. They’re going to be difficult to work with if they can’t understand basic concepts because they can’t read.
What if one of those illiterate people somehow manages to find a position of power in our country. Do you really want him/her to make decisions for you?
I sure don’t.
Our government needs to stop buying weapons and invest in our educational system right now. Our adversaries won’t have to go to war and take us over with physical force. They’ll wait and let us destroy ourselves then come in and take over when we’re reeling from our own destruction.
Photo via Visualhunt.com
So writers keep writing. You’re needed now more than ever.
Do you have any ideas on how to turn this situation around? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
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