Monica_in_Switzerland Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 My son (13, rising 8th grade) would really like me to help him write a novel. He's had some bursts of creative writing on his own time, but wants me to help him by setting deadlines, constructive criticism, etc. I'm happy to do that and feel comfortable doing that. What I'm looking for are some books for him to read- I don't particularly want curriculum, as I think having him work on separate creative writing assignments that pull time from his pet project would be discouraging. I'd rather find books aimed at a general, probably adult audience that are both inspiring and contain really tips on improving fictional writing. One of my favorite books on creative writing is Steven King's On Writing. I plan on having him read that. I'm looking for other resources that are also "theory of the craft," yet accessible to a 13 year old. For example, I've read Writing Down the Bones and enjoyed it myself as a hobbyist writer, but don't think it would be very interesting for a 13 year old. I'm willing to consider a Great Courses class, but again, not sure it would be helpful to a 13 year old or just weigh him down. He is an across-the-board accelerated student in every way but spelling. 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 21 minutes ago, Spudater said: My oldest (who writes novels) liked “Brave the Page” by the Nanowrimo guy. I’m not sure how much of that was writing advice and how much was just helping her get confident and excited. This looks like exactly the resource I was hunting for! Thank you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenecho Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 NANORIMO young writers program has some good stuff (free too). https://ywp.nanowrimo.org/pages/educator-resources 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah0000 Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Look at How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method, or the Snowflake Way, something like that. It's available on Kindle. It's a creative nonfiction book in which a character is writing a story. She attends a seminar and develops her story while learning about plot and character organization, pacing, and all the essentials. This provides a big picture idea of the novel writing process. Also included is step by step "procedure" for actually starting to organize your novel. The author stresses that different writers work in different ways, but it's useful to have mini "assignments" that break things down into manageable chunks. It's perfect for someone who has an idea of what their novel is about but who "doesn't know how to start." The author also has (at least last time I checked) a free download of his software for organizing a novel. This software has tabs for entering info, starting with broader ideas such as "write a one sentence summary of your novel" to "expand to a paragraph" to "expand each sentence to it's own paragraph." It has character tabs and a scene list, and it can all be exported to a Word document as the novel outline. If your son is serious he may be interested in participating in critiques. Look at Critique Circle. It's free to join and you're not under any commitment obligations (unlike a standard critique group). He can post his own excerpts for critiques and critique others posts. You would need to assist him probably in critiquing others. I'm not sure how often minors participate. I wonder if there's any critique sites catering to teens? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 19 hours ago, Sarah0000 said: Look at How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method, or the Snowflake Way, something like that. It's available on Kindle. It's a creative nonfiction book in which a character is writing a story. She attends a seminar and develops her story while learning about plot and character organization, pacing, and all the essentials. This provides a big picture idea of the novel writing process. Also included is step by step "procedure" for actually starting to organize your novel. The author stresses that different writers work in different ways, but it's useful to have mini "assignments" that break things down into manageable chunks. It's perfect for someone who has an idea of what their novel is about but who "doesn't know how to start." The author also has (at least last time I checked) a free download of his software for organizing a novel. This software has tabs for entering info, starting with broader ideas such as "write a one sentence summary of your novel" to "expand to a paragraph" to "expand each sentence to it's own paragraph." It has character tabs and a scene list, and it can all be exported to a Word document as the novel outline. If your son is serious he may be interested in participating in critiques. Look at Critique Circle. It's free to join and you're not under any commitment obligations (unlike a standard critique group). He can post his own excerpts for critiques and critique others posts. You would need to assist him probably in critiquing others. I'm not sure how often minors participate. I wonder if there's any critique sites catering to teens? This method and software sound very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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