For 23 Days: Doing Something Different

This past school year I took an elective that I had to take in order to get into Journalism.  Well, 21^st Century Communication was not the class I expected but I do not regret taking it in the least.  Indeed, I enjoyed it a lot.  It gave a much different perspective on writing, creativity, and so much more. 

One of the things we did after watching a TED talk our teacher proposed that we do the same thing – do something different, except for 23 days instead of 30 (23 is a special number that was part of a project in that class the semester before).  The class readily agreed and so our 23 day challenges began. 

Ryan decided to eat at a different lunch table each day, which ended with some interesting stories.  Mariah was going to write notes to people who she really appreciated.  Sydney learned a new word in her native language.  Troy learned how to say hello in 23 different languages.  Dana decided she was going to do something that would be really hard for her – stay off of Facebook for 23 whole days.  In response to that, our teacher, Mr. V, decided to give up coffee for 23 days.  Everyone chose something…me, well, I chose to write to 23 different authors. 

Part of it was easy – I looked at my books that I liked best and decided to write to those authors.  However, I did run into two major problems – some of my most favorite authors were already dead!  The one that I really wanted to write to had just passed away that very month.  The other problem was that some of their contact information was extremely hard to find, and for a few of them I couldn’t contact them without having Facebook or Twitter, so they were out.  But finally, I had my list of 23 authors and I began writing to them every day. 

The best part of writing to authors?  They actually do write back!  As of right now, since February, I have received responses from slightly over half of them.  Authors that responded include Avi, Lynne Reid Banks, L.M. Elliott, Christine Harris, Yvonne Harris, Lois Walfrid Johnson, Gordon Korman, Janette Oke, Nancy Rue, Patricia H. Rushford, Louis Sachar, and Jennifer Erin Valent – I count Roland Smith’s as a half response, since it was an automated email.  It was quite an experience to suddenly be receiving emails from authors, and mail from authors – all the way from Texas and Canada! 

They were very courteous, as well – In my next post I will have some examples – this one’s getting kind of long! 

But may I make a suggestion?  Try it!  Try both.  Write to one or more authors, and do something different for 23 days!  You never know what might happen.  I got letters back from lots of famous authors.  Ryan had some crazy and fun experiences.  Dana eventually didn’t even feel like she needed Facebook anymore.  Mariah made a lot of people happy to know that they are appreciated.  Of course, Mr. V still went right back to his coffee, but oh well! ;-)  So go ahead, give it a try!  And check back later to read what some published authors wrote – to me!