One Reason I Write for Children   by Jean Matthew Hall

Why do you write for Children?

• To be famous?
• To teach children the truth?
• To evangelize children?
• To fulfill my Daddy’s dream of being a writer?
• To be affirmed?
• To do something I love to do?
• To get rich?

I have to admit that some of those reasons motivate me some of the time. Well, except for being famous and getting rich, of course. So why DO I write for children?

Once upon a time on a gorgeous spring morning, I was enjoying our backyard swing with one of my young grandsons.

“Higher, MeMe!” Mikey shouted. “Touch the clouds!”

“Can you? Can you touch that cloud right over there?” I asked him. I pointed to the sky and pumped harder.

One of Mikey’s little hands stretched upward while the other one held on tight to my arm.

As you’ve already figured out we never did touch any clouds that morning. But it sure was fun trying. It was exhilarating. The harder I pumped the higher we went and the more we enjoyed the cool morning breeze on our faces. The higher we went the more beautiful those clouds seemed to be. We threw our heads back and let the joy bubble out all over each other.

That joy was worth the extra effort I put into pumping that swing.

Later I realized that I do the same thing with writing.

I stretch myself and strain to become a better writer, and to attain publication. I can’t be satisfied with merely writing my thoughts in my private journal.

“Higher, God,” my heart shouts. “I want to go higher—to touch the clouds with you, Lord!”

Then I wonder why I want to touch the clouds.

Is it that seed of creativity God planted in my heart before I was born? Is it some innate unrest I have? Is it pride? Do I have a burning message to spread? Or, is it God’s Holy Spirit urging me upward?

I suspect it is a mixture of all these things. But mostly, it’s because I want my life to have a much wider circle of influence than just my dear family and friends. I want to impact as many people as I can for Christ in my lifetime and beyond.

Writing for children is one way I can do that. It is one way I can reach for the clouds.

And even if I don’t touch them it is fun trying. It is exhilarating to stretch myself and use the gifts that God has placed within me. It adds beauty and joy to my life and, hopefully, to the children who enjoy my stories and to the loving adults who share the stories with them.

And that makes writing and rewriting worth the extra effort.

BIO for Jean Matthew Hall

Jean Hall lives in Louisville, Kentucky. Her stories and poems appear in magazines for children and adults, and in inspirational anthologies. Jean is a member of the SCBWI and Word Weavers International. Read more from Jean at http://www.jeanmatthewhall.com/blog and Jean Matthew Hall Author.