Late last year, I decided to begin writing short story pieces. Click here to read my first ever (500 word) attempt titled “The High School Students Street Fight”, which I entered for the GKBCinc Short Story Competition on 31st December 2013.

I intend to write many more short stories. Most will be based on real life experiences I’ve had, but written in a language that will appeal to kids as well as adults.

My plan is to challenge myself by deliberately entering each piece for ANY available online competitions. Or offline ones that do not require much registration hassle.

Why This Interest in Writing Short Stories?

You see, I’ve noticed that people love to read stories…often fiction or part fiction. They love to read novels – be it fiction or those based on real life events.

I happen to have lots of stories from real life experiences to share.

Over the years, I’ve noticed formal non-fiction writing does not appeal to all those who stand to benefit from the lessons offered in my writing.

But I’ve observed that most people react positively to true story pieces I write.

So, I’m deliberately adopting the use of short stories, to reach out to more members of my target audience.By infusing more entertainment – and less formality – into my writing, I aim to succeed more often in getting my message across to people who need to “hear” it.

I’ll be doing it based on the categories I focus on (e.g. career development, self-development, parenting, entrepreneurship, writing/blogging etc).

To this end, I have now created a Short Stories category to aid people who may wish to search for my write-ups that fall into this new area.

I’m Also Doing It to Help My Kids Become More Competent Writers and Readers

You see, I pay a lot of attention to what my kids tell me about school. I ask them questions about what they learn, their teachers etc.

What I learn convinces me I need to help my kids learn to use self-study techniques to complement whatever they get in school.

My passion for self-education drives me to challenge them to work hard at developing self-tutoring skills.

Succeeding with self-tutoring requires forming a healthy reading habit.

The problem is traditional schools, the way they operate, often make learners develop an aversion for reading.

When reading is not felt to be pleasurable, by the learner, s/he will avoid it wherever/whenever possible. And that will happen a lot when s/he is outside school …where it is unlikely to be “formally required”.

I noticed this was affecting my kids. They did not like being told to read – except it was a comic or magazine with fun content.

So I began encouraging them to think up and write short stories of their own.

To give them ideas, I suggested they read short story books by other authors, and to refer to narratives of traditional African folk tales.

The process has been slow, but so far I’ve gotten the 14 year old to complete one short story, while the 10 and 12 year olds are working to finish their first pieces.

Starting a Parent and Children “Self-Publishing Venture”

I have decided we’ll publish – both online and off the web – a collection of our short stories as a family, in one book, that will be offered for sale.

Years of experience working with kids and young people tells me this strategy can help me boost their natural interest in reading and writing.

I believe when my kids see their names and stories in print, they’ll get excited. Then even if only ONE sale happens, it will inspire them to think of writing more!

And that desire to write more, with coaching I provide, will make them want to read more as well.

Why will this happen?

It’s because the writing process often benefits greatly from reading that is done by a person. And they will discover that, as they participate in this exercise.

Many Great Writers Are Reputed to Have Started Out as Great – Often Voracious(!) – Readers

This is true. And it makes a lot of sense does it not? Very common sense I might add!

But one thing to note is that the quality of what is read is crucially important.

When you read “junk”, your development as a writer is likely to suffer. That’s why great writers recommend reading books by great authors…and nothing else.

Again, it’s just simple common sense.

I’m going to apply that common sense in coaching my kids to develop sound reading/writing skills.

And I aim to help them acquire the ability to earn tangible income using those skills.

Publishing My First Ever Short Story Is the First Step

As I’ve mentioned earlier in this piece, I intend get “The High School Students Street Fight” published as one of a collection of short stories to appear in a book by me and my kids.

Read my 14 year old son’s article titled “The Fool Who Thought He Was Wise (A 14 Year old’s Useful Story About HIV Aids Prevention)”. It will also be included…possibly with changes to make it a more compelling read.

For now, I’ve published my first ever short story (500 words) on this blog – click here.

I’ll try and make our collection of stories have illustrations to make each one interesting, especially to kids.

Today’s advanced PC and Internet technologies make doing the above relatively easy, convenient and affordable.

In fact it can even be done very cheap or at zero cost – if you choose to use Print On Demand Publishing – like I do, and which I strongly recommend.

NB: Read my 2005 article titled “How I Discovered Zero Cost Print On Demand publishing.” AND another titled “Do You Really Have To Find A Conventional Publisher? (A Case for Print On Demand Publishing)“

That’s why I believe more parents may find it useful to adopt a similar approach, to help their kids develop more real world relevant reading and writing skills.