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Ideas for teenage would-be writer???
My 16yo son wants to be a (fantacy/sci fi) writer. He's working on a novel and writes stories that are well-received by the readers (probably teen-age boys) on the web site he posts them on. Could anyone give me some ideas for supporting this interest? If he were into music or sports, I'd know what to do. For writing, the only thing I can think of is a course, either on-line or at a local college, but he's already in a fairly intense high school program, so something that is less school-like would be better. Thanks much. |
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Ideas for teenage would-be writer???
Hi -- One of my sons is also an avid writer. He's only allowed to write fiction when he's completed his other work. (This has been an incentive both to write AND to get his other work done!) We've let him take the occasional writing class, he participates in his school's literary journal, and he's made his writing social by having other kids read his work and sometimes illustrate it. Although some people think that submitting work for publication (and there are quite a few publications for teens) or to contests is incentive, we've found that the social aspect of writing: collaborating with other teens on plot, editing and illustration, geting positive feedback from other people (regardless of age) and the intrinsic satisfaction of writing are the best incentives we've found. What NOT to do is over-edit your son's work. You can point out aspects of plot or character development that you enjoy, point out the occasional problem in a piece, but don't overdo it! Teen egos can be pretty fragile, and you don't want your son abandoning a piece of writing based on your feedback. Instead, you want him to be encouraged about what he CAN do, and work to fix the problems that he can handle. Finally, make sure he has access to a lot of literature (not just SF/F) and literary criticism (not of his own work, but of famous works) so that he continues to build his critical reading skills. Those will help him learn to criticize his own writing so that he continues to develop his writing and self-editing skills. I hope these ideas help. --Beth Kevles -THE-COM-HERE http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner. NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the GMAIL one if you would like me to reply. |
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Ideas for teenage would-be writer???
On Dec 1, 8:48 pm, (Beth Kevles) wrote:
Hi -- One of my sons is also an avid writer. He's only allowed to write fiction when he's completed his other work. (This has been an incentive both to write AND to get his other work done!) We've let him take the occasional writing class, he participates in his school's literary journal, and he's made his writing social by having other kids read his work and sometimes illustrate it. Although some people think that submitting work for publication (and there are quite a few publications for teens) or to contests is incentive, we've found that the social aspect of writing: collaborating with other teens on plot, editing and illustration, geting positive feedback from other people (regardless of age) and the intrinsic satisfaction of writing are the best incentives we've found. What NOT to do is over-edit your son's work. You can point out aspects of plot or character development that you enjoy, point out the occasional problem in a piece, but don't overdo it! Teen egos can be pretty fragile, and you don't want your son abandoning a piece of writing based on your feedback. Instead, you want him to be encouraged about what he CAN do, and work to fix the problems that he can handle. Finally, make sure he has access to a lot of literature (not just SF/F) and literary criticism (not of his own work, but of famous works) so that he continues to build his critical reading skills. Those will help him learn to criticize his own writing so that he continues to develop his writing and self-editing skills. I hope these ideas help. --Beth Kevles -THE-COM-HERE http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html-- a page for the milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner. NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the GMAIL one if you would like me to reply. Thanks, Beth!!! Lots of good ideas. I especially like the one about getting friends to illustrate some of DS's stories--that would give him some human interaction around his writing to supplement his audience on the web. I hope I'll be able to find a writing class to give him for Christmas. |
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