The One-Liner That Got My Kid Reading Again

Competing Against Screens is no Laughing Matter

I tried to convince my Gen Z teenager that reading was cool, how the most prolific people read a lot.

Of course, anytime I go into advice mode, he goes into cringe mode. Regardless of the cringe, I pushed on…

But with all the video games and social media surrounding him, how to make a bunch of words seem cool?

I finally realized something unique about writing that no other media can claim… When you read, something magical happens. Your imagination, with unlimited pixels and worlds, creates the experience.

So, how to put this into a one-liner that would take him off his screen for awhile?

“When you read, the screen becomes your imagination, so it’s unlimited.”

I waited for the cringe … but instead — a quiet moment of deliberation, and then the crown jewel for any parent to see in their child: epiphany.

I couldn’t believe it. The power of words, a metaphor, caused him understand the power of words.

He soon read his first book in a long time, but more importantly, he “got it.”

The Gateway to Unlimited Realms

Writing is the only media that relies on pure imagination. Even podcasts (spoken-word) have someone speaking the words. When reading, your imagination creates the voice.

Everything from the scenery of mountains to the scent of rain happen in the theater of the mind when reading — that infinite realm no virtual world can touch.

“In the beginning was the Word” — John 1:1