When word processing, meant following The MLA style guide and font size was determined by the preprinted lines on your paper, learning to write was quite a different kind of adventure. In those days, our school desks came complete with a hole in the upper hand corner, that held the ink well where we would dip the nib of our pen, before attempting to scratch out our letters. Our teachers would prowl the aisles, looking for offenders, who were not holding their pens correctly, had their papers angled the wrong way or who smudged their letters. Painful as it was at the time, we eventually learned our upper- and lower-case alphabets, in both printed letters as well as in cursive handwriting.

Though we sometimes felt we were being tortured, our poor teachers shared plenty of the pain along with us. I feel certain there were times when they wondered why they were consigned to seven-year-olds scratching away on lined paper, when there were plenty of easier ways to make a living. God bless those patient teachers who taught us how to form our letters, piece together words and then later how to juggle them into stories of our own. Those long-ago days came to my mind as I thought over the skills I have had to pick up as a writing coach and editor. Though the following are overly simplistic, maybe one of these will be an encouragement to you today.

As class begins, the first order of business a teacher has, is to hand out papers. For us as editors, handing out a paper can be simply encouraging someone that they have the skills needed to tell their story. It doesn’t require a PhD to tell a first grader that he has lousy penmanship or that she dripped ink all over her paper. Teaching them how to do better, means handing them a blank sheet of paper every single day and offering them a chance to try again.

Secondly, our teachers gave us pencils, long before entrusting ink pens to us. Those pencils gave us the opportunity to practice dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s in a way that could be erased and done over. And when we use those pencils, somewhere along the way, they get dull. A teacher is the one who says, “Why not go to the pencil sharpener, before you do the next line?” In the same way as a writing coach we need to come alongside, not to write their assignment for them, but to help them sharpen their skills so they will better be able to make their own point.

Lastly, a good teacher is the person who refills all the ink wells. As writers, we all have mornings when we can’t think of a single new idea, and we simply stare at the blank page in front of us. We have run dry, and what we need is fresh ink in our well. As Christians, we know that real refreshing only comes from our Lord, but many times, God chooses people to do His work. A godly teacher is the one who comes along side, puts a hand on our shoulder and says, “Take a breath, look outside your window, and come back to your work in a minute. Don’t quit, because God has not quit on you, and He has a great ending for the story He has given you to tell!

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6 ESV