Writing Tips and Resources for Kids and Budding Authors
Young authors publishing books is becoming more and more frequent these days and it makes me VERY happy to see this. Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press’ own intern, Hannah Rials is a great example of this accomplishment. Hannah was actually 12 years old when she first started penning her YA thriller, Ascension, and achieved her dream of publishing at age 20.
Other notable young authors include (and I know there are many, many more!)
Marley Dias
Do you know of a budding author? Perhaps in your home or classroom? If so, lucky for you (and said young author) there are many wonderful tools and sites to encourage their writing skills.
4 Tips to Help Your Reluctant Writer – Homeschool Your Boys https://www.homeschool-your-boys.com/... via @Homeschoolbys
Read Write Think
Read Write Think is one of the most popular websites to practice writing skills. This website has both informative and interactive elements. Children can learn about the various aspects of writing by reading the lessons provided. They can then put what they have learned into action by using the interactive resources like the build a comic creator, creating a timeline, and the Printing Press which helps students to make various documents like brochures and letters.
BBC Bite Size: Writing
The BBC Bite Size site has educational resources for younger children in the areas of reading, writing, spelling, grammar, math, and science. The writing component includes a game, a reading section, a video, and a quiz. Topics include persuasive writing, writing letters, newspapers, and reports, and how to write and follow instructions. The four components under each topic provide children with an online lesson into the various types of writing in a fun and interactive manner.
Mr. Nussbaum’s 1,000 Sites in 1
Mr. Nussbaum’s 1,000 Sites in 1 provides annotated image links to appropriate learning websites for children. They are broken down by subjects and topics like science, math, reading, and games, creativity, and apps. This teacher created site provides links to language arts sites on various topics including spelling, comprehension, nouns, pronouns, and commas. However, the best part of this is the games that are created specifically for this site. Under language arts games, there are games ranging from learning spelling, proper use of semicolons, digraphs, and sentence structure.
Check out Brighty’s list of the Top Sites for Teen Writers
Here are some other resources:
Ten tips for young writers from Aaron Shepard – includes turn on the TV which I agree with. I got rid of my TV 4 years ago and it really works!
A young author’s bookshelf – books you might like to read on being a young writer, also from Aaron Shepard
YoungWritersOnline.net – a community for young writers
Google Directory for young writers – lots of links to communities etc
Resources for young writers – more links to other sites
Figment- a community for young writers and readers run by HarperCollins but in the forums there are a lot of teen writers to connect with
Magazines that young writers can submit to
If you are the parent or teacher of a budding author, encourage them! Encourage them to write, talk to other writers, enter competitions, take courses and do what they need to do to hone their craft. Show them the process of writing, editing, illustration and book production or connect them to someone who can.
The world needs more young authors!
If you know of an author between the ages of 12 and 20, please let me know! Maybe we can do a “Part 2” to this post and shine the spotlight on their books!
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