Developing Talent -- how do you encourage children?

twowheels · 01-31-2011, 06:56 PM

My 12 year old daughter (6th grade) has a passion for reading that exceeds most her age. What I've never fully appreciated, until this weekend, was that she also loves writing -- not only does she love it, but she's GOOD at it! I've seen her at the computer "writing a book" a number of times, but she never shared her work, so I only saw her school work, which felt uninspired and childish. Friday night I was finally introduced to her writing, and it blew me away. I sat dumbfounded. I searched Google, looking for some hint that the work wasn't original, I just couldn't believe that the words that I was reading came from a child. She had a number of books in progress of varying lengths (the longest, a trilogy, was an obvious fanfic spinoff of the Twilight series -- not her best work; the shortest was one page that was full of punch and left me wanting to read more).

I don't have her permission to share her work (she didn't even want to share it with me, said it was no good), so I don't want to post any examples right now, but the character development and storylines were amazing. She writes far better than I did at that age, far better than I could now (no matter how I tried), and IMO better than many published authors (though perhaps that's the bias of a father :-) ).

So, my question is, "What do I do now?" She has a talent that I don't think that I should ignore. She's not proud of her work, thinks that it's not very good. I'm afraid to pressure her and turn something that she loves into a chore, but at the same time I think back to how happy I would have been to have a mentor in my own quest for knowledge when I was young -- I remember pestering anybody that I could to learn more about computer programming.

Looking around I found that there is a local writer's club. I'm thinking about contacting them, but perhaps an adult oriented group might not accept her, and she might feel out of place. Another thought was to contact the local university and ask around at the English department to see if any of the professors agree with my assessment and know of any summer programs or other such activities that she might enjoy.

Any other ideas?

cromag · 02-01-2011, 12:57 AM

Have you spoken with her current teacher(s)? Especially her English teacher? They probably know your daughter pretty well and should also know about resources in their field.

twowheels · 02-01-2011, 02:41 AM

I do plan to do that. Unfortunately her school work is very different than these writings. I wonder if her teacher has seen the full picture. I would also like to hear her perspective on how it compares to other children's work who are also in the GATE (gifted and talented education) program.

James_Wilde · 02-01-2011, 05:07 AM

Why not ask at the library if there is a writers' circle in your area and pay her dues there. Speak to one of the committee to ensure that she doesn't have to read up her own stuff until she feels secure.

When I was a member of the Stockport Writers' Circle about a hundred years ago, several members present at a meeting would read an article or a short excerpt from their latest production, and it was an unwritten law that one didn't sit and lurk too many weeks in a row. Helped with the production level, too. Many were amateur newspaper correspondents for the local rag, others were working on full-length novels, yet others did work for the radio, plays or short stories or articles of interest.

queentess · 02-01-2011, 04:33 PM

I know beans about writing, but Mr. Scalzi is a pretty good source. Sure, it's directed at teens, but one of the things he mentions is start getting published... in the school newspaper.

I don't know how your daughter's school works, but I was able to write for my junior high newspaper when I was in the 6th grade. Might be a good way to build confidence and hone her skills, even if it's not fictional writing. I also wrote short articles for my parent's church bulletin. I was more of a reader than a writer

Stephen King and Mary Higgins Clark were two of my favorites at that age.

twowheels · 02-01-2011, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by queentess

I know beans about writing, but Mr. Scalzi is a pretty good source. Sure, it's directed at teens, but one of the things he mentions is start getting published... in the school newspaper.

Thanks for the link... looks useful.

BTW... I'm sure that I'm biased, but I believe that some of her work is actually better than his 17-year-old example. :-)

Dodge · 02-02-2011, 04:34 PM

Continue to provide her with positive reinforcement.

She may not think it's that great, but that is the fire of a writer, always wanting to improve. Maybe this will help drive her besides the fact that she enjoys it.

Ask if she would be interested in writing in/for age appropriate periodicals.

Find stories about successful authors who began writing as a youngster.

Belle2Be · 02-02-2011, 04:45 PM

Get her involved in a forum where the anonymity can give her some comfort and the feedback can help her grow. You might want to look for one that is more rainbows to start though.

queentess · 02-02-2011, 04:55 PM

No clue how good this is, but maybe a place to start?
http://www.teenink.com/

queentess · 02-08-2011, 04:04 PM

Just ran across this today. http://alpha.spellcaster.org/
It takes teens from 14-19. Your daughter's not quite there, but it might be something to keep in mind for the future.

jrlewis · 02-08-2011, 04:23 PM

You might encourage her to actually publish her stories for free on Smashwords under a pen name and solicit feedback here on the forum under that same pen name (or maybe you could do it yourself).

Folks around here are pretty polite, so either she'll get praise or gentle critiques, or perhaps nothing at all. But it would let her get used to the idea of people reading her stories behind a veil of anonymity.

It's actually a pretty great feeling when you see people are downloading your stories, and it's even better when they give you positive reviews. It might improve her confidence and lead to her selling stories and becoming a bestselling writer before she hits college! (who knows?)

khalleron · 02-08-2011, 07:51 PM

I'm going to go against the mainstream advice here - I wouldn't worry about the publishing part myself at this point. Just tell her what you've told us and let her keep writing at her own pace in her own way.

Mention it every once in awhile, how much you liked what she'd written. Encourage, don't criticize or try to make her conform to what you think she should be doing.

Not every talent or love has to be monetized - that's a scourge of our civilization, IMHO. If she decides she wants to write professionally, then that will happen when she's ready.

altworld · 02-09-2011, 11:49 AM

Let her write, postively encourage it, and gently help her with mistakes. At this age let her express herself without fear, then help her grow. If she is really interested in what she is doing, then kids surprise you by taking huge leaps to push themselves.
Arigato,
Nick Davis

jrlewis · 02-11-2011, 12:40 AM

I'm not necessarily saying you should try to channel her into a profession at this age, but the news is full of success stories of teenagers finding their passion and turning it into a business or a career and finding huge success before ever thinking about college.

I think we need to keep offering these professional options to kids on the off-chance that they stumble into both happiness and success early in life.

twowheels · 02-24-2011, 05:33 PM

Thanks for the opinions all... I've been visiting the site a little less lately, so I just now saw the last 4 or so posts, but I'm definitely considering all of your input... thanks!

01-31-2011, 06:56 PM	#1
twowheels Wizard Posts: 1,853 Karma: 13432974 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro, Boox Note Max	Developing Talent -- how do you encourage children? My 12 year old daughter (6th grade) has a passion for reading that exceeds most her age. What I've never fully appreciated, until this weekend, was that she also loves writing -- not only does she love it, but she's GOOD at it! I've seen her at the computer "writing a book" a number of times, but she never shared her work, so I only saw her school work, which felt uninspired and childish. Friday night I was finally introduced to her writing, and it blew me away. I sat dumbfounded. I searched Google, looking for some hint that the work wasn't original, I just couldn't believe that the words that I was reading came from a child. She had a number of books in progress of varying lengths (the longest, a trilogy, was an obvious fanfic spinoff of the Twilight series -- not her best work; the shortest was one page that was full of punch and left me wanting to read more). I don't have her permission to share her work (she didn't even want to share it with me, said it was no good), so I don't want to post any examples right now, but the character development and storylines were amazing. She writes far better than I did at that age, far better than I could now (no matter how I tried), and IMO better than many published authors (though perhaps that's the bias of a father :-) ). So, my question is, "What do I do now?" She has a talent that I don't think that I should ignore. She's not proud of her work, thinks that it's not very good. I'm afraid to pressure her and turn something that she loves into a chore, but at the same time I think back to how happy I would have been to have a mentor in my own quest for knowledge when I was young -- I remember pestering anybody that I could to learn more about computer programming. Looking around I found that there is a local writer's club. I'm thinking about contacting them, but perhaps an adult oriented group might not accept her, and she might feel out of place. Another thought was to contact the local university and ask around at the English department to see if any of the professors agree with my assessment and know of any summer programs or other such activities that she might enjoy. Any other ideas?

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02-01-2011, 12:57 AM	#2
cromag Surfin the alpha waves ~~ Posts: 26,026 Karma: 459735575 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: New Jersey Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids	Have you spoken with her current teacher(s)? Especially her English teacher? They probably know your daughter pretty well and should also know about resources in their field.

02-01-2011, 02:41 AM	#3
twowheels Wizard Posts: 1,853 Karma: 13432974 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro, Boox Note Max	I do plan to do that. Unfortunately her school work is very different than these writings. I wonder if her teacher has seen the full picture. I would also like to hear her perspective on how it compares to other children's work who are also in the GATE (gifted and talented education) program.

02-01-2011, 05:07 AM	#4
James_Wilde Guru Posts: 802 Karma: 4727110 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Iriver Story	Why not ask at the library if there is a writers' circle in your area and pay her dues there. Speak to one of the committee to ensure that she doesn't have to read up her own stuff until she feels secure. When I was a member of the Stockport Writers' Circle about a hundred years ago, several members present at a meeting would read an article or a short excerpt from their latest production, and it was an unwritten law that one didn't sit and lurk too many weeks in a row. Helped with the production level, too. Many were amateur newspaper correspondents for the local rag, others were working on full-length novels, yet others did work for the radio, plays or short stories or articles of interest.

02-01-2011, 04:33 PM	#5
queentess Reading is sexy Posts: 1,303 Karma: 544517 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: none	I know beans about writing, but Mr. Scalzi is a pretty good source. Sure, it's directed at teens, but one of the things he mentions is start getting published... in the school newspaper. I don't know how your daughter's school works, but I was able to write for my junior high newspaper when I was in the 6th grade. Might be a good way to build confidence and hone her skills, even if it's not fictional writing. I also wrote short articles for my parent's church bulletin. I was more of a reader than a writer Stephen King and Mary Higgins Clark were two of my favorites at that age.

02-02-2011, 04:34 PM	#7
Dodge Sparks fly off my pages! Posts: 123 Karma: 250002 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Device: Kindle	Continue to provide her with positive reinforcement. She may not think it's that great, but that is the fire of a writer, always wanting to improve. Maybe this will help drive her besides the fact that she enjoys it. Ask if she would be interested in writing in/for age appropriate periodicals. Find stories about successful authors who began writing as a youngster.

02-02-2011, 04:45 PM	#8
Belle2Be Peace, Love, and Books Posts: 355 Karma: 1242738 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle 3(3g), NookColor	Get her involved in a forum where the anonymity can give her some comfort and the feedback can help her grow. You might want to look for one that is more rainbows to start though.

02-02-2011, 04:55 PM	#9
queentess Reading is sexy Posts: 1,303 Karma: 544517 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: none	No clue how good this is, but maybe a place to start? http://www.teenink.com/

02-08-2011, 04:04 PM	#10
queentess Reading is sexy Posts: 1,303 Karma: 544517 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: none	Just ran across this today. http://alpha.spellcaster.org/ It takes teens from 14-19. Your daughter's not quite there, but it might be something to keep in mind for the future.

02-08-2011, 04:23 PM	#11
jrlewis SF/F Author Posts: 160 Karma: 349656 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: USA Device: Adobe Digital Editions	You might encourage her to actually publish her stories for free on Smashwords under a pen name and solicit feedback here on the forum under that same pen name (or maybe you could do it yourself). Folks around here are pretty polite, so either she'll get praise or gentle critiques, or perhaps nothing at all. But it would let her get used to the idea of people reading her stories behind a veil of anonymity. It's actually a pretty great feeling when you see people are downloading your stories, and it's even better when they give you positive reviews. It might improve her confidence and lead to her selling stories and becoming a bestselling writer before she hits college! (who knows?)

02-08-2011, 07:51 PM	#12
khalleron Kate Posts: 1,700 Karma: 3605799 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oregon, United States Device: MeeBook, Kobo Libra Colour	I'm going to go against the mainstream advice here - I wouldn't worry about the publishing part myself at this point. Just tell her what you've told us and let her keep writing at her own pace in her own way. Mention it every once in awhile, how much you liked what she'd written. Encourage, don't criticize or try to make her conform to what you think she should be doing. Not every talent or love has to be monetized - that's a scourge of our civilization, IMHO. If she decides she wants to write professionally, then that will happen when she's ready.

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02-09-2011, 11:49 AM	#13
altworld Evangelist Posts: 495 Karma: 746472 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Deep in Maryland Device: Android G1	Let her write, postively encourage it, and gently help her with mistakes. At this age let her express herself without fear, then help her grow. If she is really interested in what she is doing, then kids surprise you by taking huge leaps to push themselves. Arigato, Nick Davis

02-11-2011, 12:40 AM	#14
jrlewis SF/F Author Posts: 160 Karma: 349656 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: USA Device: Adobe Digital Editions	I'm not necessarily saying you should try to channel her into a profession at this age, but the news is full of success stories of teenagers finding their passion and turning it into a business or a career and finding huge success before ever thinking about college. I think we need to keep offering these professional options to kids on the off-chance that they stumble into both happiness and success early in life.

02-24-2011, 05:33 PM	#15
twowheels Wizard Posts: 1,853 Karma: 13432974 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro, Boox Note Max	Thanks for the opinions all... I've been visiting the site a little less lately, so I just now saw the last 4 or so posts, but I'm definitely considering all of your input... thanks!