Lanny Jones, grandparent of Luke '20 and Adam '21, former managing editor of People Magazine, journalist, and author stopped by the 8th grade Language Arts class on Friday morning to share his tips and insights into what makes great writing.

He began by explaining what drove him to become a writer - a love of reading and inspiration from Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, and The Elements of Style. He started writing for his high school and college newspapers, then began to work for Time Magazine. "When you're a journalist, you basically get to learn about whatever you're interested in. There's a lot of variety. If you're curious about the president, you go meet the president."

Lanny outlined his favorite writing rules (make a mess, don't worry about getting it right the first time, simplify, find your own voice) before opening up the discussion to questions froom the 8th grade students.

Nyna asked about character development. Nolan asked how much Lanny writes per day and where he finds his inspiration. Levi asked if he has a favorite author. Tyler asked why Lanny prefer nonfiction over fiction. Tyson asked what pieces that he had written were his favorite and least favorite.

8th grade LA teacher Chris Rodgers brought the conversation back to the class's curriculum. This quarter the query that they are focusing on is about honesty and deception, asking how Lanny balanced being truth and selling magazines. Students commented about his legal rights under the 1st Amendment versus his personal ethical code in deciding what to publish. "My guideline was that if it made me uncomfortable, I wouldn't do it," said Lanny.

The greatest takeaway that Lanny gave to the students is the importance of writing, even in the age of the Internet. "There's still a market for people who can tell stories and write a narrative. That's the most valuable skill you can have as a writer. That's why this class is so important." Chris noted that students often tell him their frustrations with doing so much work for each writing assignment. Lanny immediately responded, "that's how it should be!" He explained that - according to Ernest Hemingway - writing it like an iceberg: what's holding it up doesn't always show in the final product, but it's so important to make the piece work.

Thank you to Lanny for sharing his experiences and insights with the 8th grade!