How to encourage a writer?

[three4me]

DD will be a third grader this year. For LA we do ELTL and AAS. She has always enjoyed writing stories, poems and songs. Is there something we can use to supplement creative writing since she loves it so much? Last year she used a couple story starter books and did well, but I think she's ready to move on to something else.

 

Ideas? Thanks!

[OneStepAtATime]

Brave writer?  And helping her explore areas of interest so she has something she wants to write about?  Maybe entering in some writing contests?  Check out kids magazines.  Muse does some stuff.  Also, there are other organizations that will do contests and publish the winners.

[JennSnow]

I taught a creative writing class at a co-op once and we used Chris Van Allsburg's "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" as our jumping off point.  The class was a big hit!

 

The book is basically a series of beautiful illustrations each with a single line.  The writer then takes the illustration, the line, and creates a story of their own to accompany it :).

Some examples...







There is a whole community of folks who write and share their stories to go along with illustrations..some famous writers have even joined in on the fun.

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/introduction.html

 

Edited August 4, 2016 by JennSnow

[Farrar]

She might enjoy the projects in BW's Partnership Writing.

 

Mostly I'd just make time for her to write. Prompts are good. Suggesting fun projects like "make a newspaper" or "create an imaginary country" are good. Entering writing contests can be good. But mostly I'd say mark out time for her to write and encourage it.

[Critterfixer]

The biggest thing is to make time for it. And listen. Listen a lot. Make time to read books that are in the genre (roughly) that she likes that offer examples for her to study.

[shinyhappypeople]

My younger DD is a natural, prolific writer.  I just make sure she has plenty of notebooks and pens.  She doesn't need or want my interference help, so I just let her be. She has a strong grasp of writing mechanics that she's absorbed from reading.  Same thing for spelling.   Same thing for reading.  

 

,

[reign]

I taught a creative writing class at a co-op once and we used Chris Van Allsburg's "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" as our jumping off point. The class was a big hit!

 

The book is basically a series of beautiful illustrations each with a single line. The writer then takes the illustration, the line, and creates a story of their own to accompany it :).

 

Some examples...

 

 

 

 

There is a whole community of folks who write and share their stories to go along with illustrations..some famous writers have even joined in on the fun.

 

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/introduction.html

Wow! I love this. Thanks so much 😀

[MerryAtHope]

She might enjoy the projects in BW's Partnership Writing.

 

Mostly I'd just make time for her to write. Prompts are good. Suggesting fun projects like "make a newspaper" or "create an imaginary country" are good. Entering writing contests can be good. But mostly I'd say mark out time for her to write and encourage it.

 

Yes, this. You could get a nice book for her to write in, or save her writing and have it bound at the end of the year for a nice keepsake (and it could be combined with artwork if she likes to illustrate her writing, or with photography etc...). It's not too expensive to have something bound at Staples--you can use cardstock for a sturdier cover and have them put plastic sheets top and bottom etc... 

 

Also, a supportive audience is really helpful. She might enjoy sending stories or poems as gifts to grandparents etc..., or having a time to read aloud her writing occasionally. 

 

Have fun with it!

[three4me]

Thanks, everyone! These are great ideas!

[chocolate-chip chooky]

For my reluctant (but capable) writer, the best thing was to sit down beside her and also write. 

This helped me remember how hard it can be to have ideas and get started.

 

I made up lots of laminated cards with images on them, one image per card. We'd have them face down on the table, randomly choose one, flip it over and start writing. Both of us. It could be a poem, description, narrative...anything.  

 

Later on I added in a second set of cards, which specified what we had to do with the image eg this is a book cover, write the blurb; this is in an art gallery, write the artist's statement.

 

[letsplaymath]

Blogging is a great way to share her writing with friends and family. (They can subscribe to get her new stories in their email automatically.) My daughter started blogging when she was 8yo, and it was a good way to practice her writing skills.

• Kitten's blog, as an example

And the kids' version of NaNoWriMo can be great fun. Kids get to set their own target word count, and they can change it if needed. My daughter started Nano when she was 10yo, and has done it every year since. The last year or two (mid-teens), she's been able to hit the adult-level goal of 50,000 words. (And one of the books she started in Nano became her first published novel, at age 13!)

• NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program

[LindaOz]

I've found that my writers just needed opportunity. They responded well to having 'free writing' built into their schedules. So, twice a week, writing was to be their own choice. Some wonderful stories were/are being written in that time.