“Real” Author Offers Real Writing Inspiration

Superior Middle Schoolers hear from local author Erin Soderberg Downing

When reading a book, we know there is an author, but it’s sometimes hard to imagine them as a real flesh and blood person.

Well, Tuesday, kids at Superior Middle School got a chance to meet a real-life author.

Erin Soderberg Downing is from Duluth and has written dozens of books for kids. She met with sixth graders Tuesday and loves inspiring them to not only read, but also write themselves.

Her visit is part of an ongoing effort to increase literacy school-wide. It was her 45th of 50 school visits by someone who never planned to be an author.

“I am feeling really tired and losing sense of day and time. But I’ve been in six different states over the past five weeks. And I planned to finish in the Northland because this is where I’m from and this is where these books are set,” said Soderberg Downing.

“So, it’s extra special to get to share stories that are set here with kids who live with these settings in their backyard,” she said.

One of her books that she read and shared with students was ‘Just Keep Walking.’ The story is about a mother and her child walking the hundred miles of the Superior Hiking Trail.

Many of her other books are also locally based.

When children say they have a book idea for her, she turns it around, and says the student should be the one to write the story. It also offers something the child might not expect.

“It wasn’t until I started writing for fun, just for me, that I realized how great writing can be. And how much fun it can be. I always thought it was more of a chore,” Soderberg Downing said.

“But writing for yourself gives you a lot of control over what happens in the world that you’ve created. And we don’t have that kind of control in real life. We don’t get to make all the decisions. We don’t even get to decide what to have for lunch, many days, especially when we’re in middle school. And so, writing gives you that freedom to make decisions for your characters and decide what’s happening in this world that you’ve created. So, that’s one of my favorite things about talking to kids,” she said.

Soderberg Downing is heading back to the school again Wednesday and will be talking to 8th graders about writing.

And on Thursday, another author, S.A. Bodeen, will be meeting with 7th graders.