Story Time

Hi kids. I'm an author from the neighborhood. Can anyone tell me what an author does?

An author writes stories, right?

And, if an author writes stories, that means a good author writes good stories, right?

Now, can anyone tell me what makes a story good?

Colorful, entertaining, fun, crazy, silly, funny? Yes, all those things. But, is that all that makes a story good?

What else could make a good story?

You can learn something from it, right?

After all, learning is why you're here at school, and learning is something we all do throughout our whole lives. We know that learning is very, very important. So, learning is definitely something that we should make very colorful, silly, and funny, and that's one reason I decided to become an author...because I like to have a lot of fun, and I like to learn, and I like writing stories.

I try my hardest to write good stories, and that means I try to write stories that make learning fun.

Now, real life is not always fun, is it?

Sometimes, real life doesn't seem like much fun at all, right?

And, one reason life sometimes isn't fun is because things happen accidentally.

Have any of you spilled milk before? Raise your hand if you've spilled milk. I did when I was your age.

Were you sad when you spilled the milk? I remember being sad when I did that.

Maybe not everyone in this room has spilled milk, but we've spilled maybe juice, or water, or lemonade, or maybe it was something else you spilled. Or maybe it was another accident altogether.

Well, for now, if you haven't spilled milk, I want you to pretend that you accidentally spilled milk instead of the other mistake you made.

It can be anything at all, even if it is embarrassing. You don't need to tell me what is is. It can be your secret.

You see, as an author, I can use "spilled milk" to resemble any small mistake you have made, because I know that you can use your imagination to understand that what you did that was a lot like spilling milk. This is called a "metaphor." A metaphor is a symbol, so for you, "spilled milk" might be the same as a toy you broke, or a time when you hurt someone's feelings accidentally. All of these are mistakes a lot like spilling milk. Metaphors, or symbols, help authors tell good stories.

Why were you sad when you spilled the milk?

You were sad because you didn't want to be a "milk spiller."

You already know that good authors must write good stories.

You also know that good children drink their milk...they don't spill it, right?

Nobody wants to be a "milk spiller!" (At least anyone who didn't try to spill milk!)

Well, I have a very special secret for you...

Your mom and your dad...

Your grandpa and grandpa...

Your brothers and your sisters...

and every single one of us has spilled milk.

And everyone felt bad about it, just like you did. They didn't want to be a "milk spiller" either. And, those of you that are using your imagination, you know what you were afraid of being called.

Maybe a "toy breaker."

Maybe a "feelings hurter."

I have been those things. Yes, I have hurt my friend's feelings by mistake...

Well, everyone in the world has made mistakes like that too.

But, let's continue to use our metaphor, and pretend that your particular thing is the same as spilling milk. Because, after you do something by mistake, whatever it is, something usually must be done to fix it.

The milk cannot be un-spilled.

Even if we cry and scream and pound our arms, there is nothing that will change the fact that milk has been spilled.

We cannot undo what has already happened.

But, we do have a choice...

After we spill milk, we can either help to make things better, or we can make things worse.

How do you make things better once you spill the milk?

Does crying make things better?

Does screaming make things better?

Does pounding your arms make things better?

No, it doesn't, does it?

What can help make it better?

Well, first, choosing not to cry. Does that make things better?

Choosing not scream?

Choosing not to pound?

Just being calm and thinking about what has happened is already helping, right?

But, there is still milk all over the place, isn't there?

You have already begun to help by not screaming, pounding, or crying. But, if you really want to help more, you can even clean up the milk you have spilled.

That is the best way to make it better.

But, it's not only the best way for you...

It's the best way for the person sitting next to you, too.

It's the best way for me, and for everybody in the world, to clean up the milk they have spilled instead of crying, screaming, or pounding. This was true thousands of years ago, and it will be true thousands of years from now. Does everybody agree that this is true?

It is. And we know that because we all have reason. Reason is another requirement for an author.

While we need to use our imagination sometimes to pretend "spilled milk" is actually another thing that we did by mistake, reason tells us, without needing any imagination, that it is best to help clean up our messes and fix what we have broken when we are able.

Authors must use reason, because everyone who likes stories has reason.

So, reason is definitely a requirement for a good author.

How do I know that cleaning up spilled milk is always the best thing to do in every case?

I don't.

No one can really know that.

But I do know that...

1. When I see someone spill milk, it isn't fair that another person has to clean it up. And...
2. Because I know that, I know that I should clean up the milk I spilled.

Do you clean up milk you spill yourself because I tell you? No.

Because your teacher tells you? No.

Because your parent's tell you? No.

Because anyone says so? No.

You do it because you have reason, just like everybody else in this room. And if you didn't before, now you do. You do it because you know you ought to do it.

When I was little I spilled milk, and then I cried instead of cleaning it up. Then I learned why we clean up our own spilled milk, and have tried to do this ever since...for spilled milk or any other mistake I have made. (And as I grew up, and make more mistakes, and did my best to fix them, I saw how important this habit was.)

Now, imagine your brother, sister or friend spills milk. Then, they don't clean it up.

Now, they may be too young to have reason, and in that case they may need your help. You may need to teach them reason yourself, because the earlier someone learns it, the better.

But, if they are older, and they have reason, sometimes they may not clean up the milk they have spilled.

Why is that?

Why wouldn't someone clean up their own spilled milk, or fix something they broke, when they have reason?

There can be only one reason.

Because they need your help.

Maybe the glass was so big, and there was soooo much milk, that just one person could never clean it up. Or, maybe this person got hurt when they spilled the milk, and are unable to clean it up. In that case, they may need a lot of help. And, there may be other reasons too...

Every author, including me, has made many mistakes...has spilled milk. And, that makes me a lot like each one of you. Sometimes an author like me writes stories as a way to clean up the milk he has spilled. Other times, an author writes stories to help somebody else clean up milk they have spilled. And other times, an author writes stories just for fun.

I write stories because I learned that crying, screaming, or pounding will not help clean up spilled milk. But, there is another secret that authors know...

And that is...

Cleaning up spilled milk is actually more fun than anything else.

And now, it's time for our story...