On Thursday February 24, Heather Kaufman joined Mehlville’s Writers week to share her ideas on writing. Kaufman is a novelist from St. Louis who graduated from McKendree University and the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

     Kaufman started to write stories while she was younger. She wrote short stories in the beginning, but started her first novel while she was in her teens. This novel, which is most likely not to be published, was a medieval novel.

    Later Kaufman went on to work for Concordia Publishing. This company was also the same one that published her first novel, The Story People.

    The main topic Kaufman addressed during her presentation was creative writing. She talked about how creative writing applied to her life and how aspiring writers can grow and build on their writing.

    There were a few main points of advice Kaufman gave to students. Two of these were reading more and keeping a detail notebook.

    Her reason behind her belief of the need for people to read more. She believes by reading more we can grow as a writer and promote our own thinking when it comes to stories. When you read more, you find out what type of stories you personally enjoy as a reader.

    The detail notebook is a interesting way to pick up on adding more details to your stories. Kaufman advised that students record any creative detail they see in the world. One example she gave was bird nests could seem like blemishes on bare trees. She elaborated that she could then add on to the detail by saying that bare trees are looking forward to Spring to cover up the blemishes. This notebook could help writers practice adding details to their stories by using the world they observe.

     Kaufman then went on to tell her story about her getting her first novel, The Story People, published. She tied in her points and explained how a little bit of her writing process.

     Kaufman’s performance added to the many great presenters Mehlville has had during Writers Week. Kaufman’s ideas and story help show that determined writers can grow and improve on their writing.