Raising Writers

By Steve Ford and Bev Bachel

image from In Our Write Minds website

Do you have a young writer in your house? Someone who hides away with notepad and pencil for hours on end? Does she emit a growl when you peek over her shoulder? Has he taken to wearing black and hanging out at the local coffee shop or asking to convert the attic into a studio?

If so, congratulations; you’re raising a writer, a quirky being who, if properly nourished, may grow up to pen poems, short stories, a memoir, or the great American novel.

As a parent, your job is to keep your budding scribe’s creative flame burning brightly. As professional writers who work with youth (Steve’s a former middle school writing teacher; Bev’s the author of a goal-setting book for teens), here are our tried-and-true strategies.

Create a time and place. Help your child carve out a place to write. It doesn’t have to be formal, but it should be comfortable and, if possible, away from blaring TVs, barking dogs, and crying babies. Provide supplies, such as pencils and an eraser, a notepad, a computer, and a dictionary.

Encourage freewriting. Those who work with school-agers often hear this refrain: “Why can’t we write what we want? We just do assignments!” All too often this is true; curriculum requirements and restrictions on teacher time crowd out “freewriting.” So, let your child write about topics of his or her choice.

Encourage him to write a bit every day, and go boldly wherever his thoughts lead. This is just the antidote for young writers who believe they have nothing important to say. Their so-called writer’s block often stems not from lack of ideas but from lack of confidence in their ability to express them. Experienced authors like Brenda Ueland assure us that we all have important things to say, and that we need only tap into our “inexhaustible fountain of ideas” for inspiration.

Set goals. Help your child set writing-related goals: write for 20 minutes on Saturday, compose a poem every week, complete a short story over summer vacation. Goals should be age-appropriate, but remember—just because a child is young, doesn’t mean she’s not capable. Or ambitious. During last November’s National Novel Writing Month, several young Twin Cities writers Bev knows set—and achieved—an impressive goal, each writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

Provide useful feedback. Like all writers, your child has a unique voice that’s a combination of both heart and head. To get your child writing from his heart, ask him to explore his loves and hates, fantasies and fears. To engage his head, ask him to write about what he’s thinking.

Your child’s thoughts may rush out in a torrent or trickle out drop by painful drop. In either case, provide positive feedback. Acknowledge the effort and admire the work, keeping in mind that specific comments are more meaningful than general praise. Rather than saying, “Great description,” say you liked the adjectives or that the similes made you smile.

Maintain a playful attitude, and show your child you are truly interested in what she has to say. That said, give her space and approach with caution. Better yet, wait to be invited in.

Whatever you do, don’t criticize. Until a piece of work is whole and has integrity, preoccupation with spelling, punctuation, and grammar only distracts and discourages the author.

Engage their senses. As author Frank McCourt explains, “Good writers are very observant.” They detect sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures that others are unaware of. The dress wasn’t just blue, it was cobalt cotton. And it buttoned up the back with five handmade coconut-shell buttons, each the size of a man’s thumb. Details like these bring writing to life.

Some children incorporate details freely. Others can learn to do so by being reminded to “come to their senses.” It’s as simple as asking, “What did your character see/hear/smell/taste/feel when that happened?” or “What was your character thinking?” (Remember, characters’ thoughts can affect a story line just as the author’s can.)

Asking questions can unblock your child’s mind. So can encouraging the recall of emotional events. Such recall puts your child in touch with the scenes already prominent in his memory, making details easier to describe. Follow-up questions—such as “Who else was with you?” or “Why do you think the dog in your story did that?”—can lead to even more depth.

Take advantage of local literature. One of the best things you can do for young writers is introduce them to a local literary organization. In the Twin Cities, the Loft offers an impressive array of programming for youth. You’ll find a wide range of classes–from exploring play writing to creating graphic novels to using humor and more.

Creative writing classes also provide an opportunity for youth (and their writerly parents) to make new friends and spend time with professional writers and like-minded peers.

Find mentors and role models. Mentors can help by providing inspiration, gentle nudges, helpful critiques—and  the objectivity a parent cannot. They can also alert your child to opportunities. For instance, Bev has encouraged several young writers to become members of her publisher’s teen editorial board, and Steve’s students enter the Kids Philosophy Slam competition yearly. As he can attest, young writers emerge from these opportunities all the better for having put themselves “out there.”

They also emerge all the better when they see their parents engaging in the world of words. Take your child to the library, a local bookstore, Open Book, or anywhere else people who love books congregate. Join a parent-child book group. Read. And most of all, write.

And remember, although the final act in the writing process is often solitary, it is the sharing of thoughts and observations that bolsters a writer’s confidence and gives rise to new ideas and rich language—the stuff of good writing, no matter the writer’s age.

Steve Ford (stevefordwriting.com) is a recently retired sixth-grade writing teacher who continues to work with individuals and small groups of students as a tutor and mentor. Bev Bachel owns Idea Girls (ideagirls.com) and is the author of What Do You Really Want? How to Set a Goal and Go for It, a guide for teens that is available at amazon.com and freespirit.com.

By Bev Bachel and Steve Ford