Dear Parent of a Future Author,

What can you do to support your child who aspires to become an author? I’m guessing your child is already a reader. That means they’re already doing some of the work it takes to become an author. Now, I’m going to give you a few activities you can do with your child to grow their writing skills.

1. Read like a reader; reflect like a writer. This is something I picked up from James Scott Bell. He suggests picking up five of your favorite books and reading them for pleasure. Then, get a bunch of notecards and write each major event on them. Make up your own general titles of what happened. When you are done, think about what all the books have in common and what they have different. You are cementing plot structure into your head. Meandering plots are easy to write, and this is one way to see how others keep their plot moving. The more I write, the more I realize how much plot structure trumps perfect prose. Take your time being a student of your favorite stories.
2. Write the back cover copy (BCC) of your story first. This is the back cover or inner flap of the book that is meant to entice a reader to read the book. I didn’t know this before becoming a writer, but the author writes their own back cover copy. One way to make your story stronger is to try to summarize the book in a way that makes others want to read it. The BCC shouldn’t be longer than 250 words. If you try this one, I’d love to hear how it goes.
3. Read a book on the craft of writing. Here’s one of my recommendations: Go Teen Writers. A lot of writing books are geared toward adults. They provide excellent strategies, but also give examples from more mature books. This is why I recommend a book made for teen writers.

There are so many easy ways we can support budding tween and teen writers. These are just a few strategies.

Make sure you continue to read and write a regular schedule. Practice makes better. Your child can achieve professional level writing. Keep up the practice and have fun.

Sincerely,

Candice Pedraza Yamnitz

A 2022 debut author and growing writer

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I’ve taught creative writing to tweens, love making school visits, and helping people improve their writing.