Rocket Writers – Blast off with a New Writing Resource for Young Writers

A few months ago, I was the guest speaker for a local school’s literacy night. More than 150 avid readers and aspiring young authors attended. I wanted to gift a few writing resource books for the raffle, but I didn’t know which ones were worthy to gift to these budding writers. So, I reached out to a friend who I knew was passionate about this topic and writing a unique writing resource book of her own.

Fast-forward to now, and I am holding Kristen Gwen’s beautiful young writer resource guide. Oh, how I wish this book had been available to give away at that literacy event. The space theme throughout is captivating, and the writing prompts are super helpful.

It is my great privilege to introduce you to the recently released Rocket Writers: A Guide to Launching into the Author Space for Storytellers Under 18 by Kristen Gwen

Rocket Writers divides the creative writing process into six easy-to-read parts.

Part 1: “Preparing for Launch” is where all the brainstorming, outlining, and preparation happen. Gwen provides a lot of prompts and suggestions to help fuel the young writer’s creativity, to ensure they are prepared for takeoff. She also suggests you have a “watch party” where you watch a movie, or think about your favorite book, and analyze the way the story is told and look for key elements that the story likely has that makes it your favorite.

Part 2: “Characters” will help young writers build a unique cast to tell their story as they think about backstory, dialogue, main characters, secondary characters, special skills, mentors, and villains.

Part 3: “The Lie and the Truth” focuses on the background, motivations, themes, and conveying a strong message. These story elements may be new to a young writer, but they are well explained with clear examples.

Part 4: “Plot Points and Character Arc” is all about creating conflict amid well-timed plot points to help build tension and showcase a meaningful character arc. This section also contains a great story example with the Pixar-animated movie Cars that will help young writers see all these elements in a well-laid-out storyline.

Part 5: “Setting” lays the groundwork for world-building, genre, using the five senses, and choosing unique elements like food, culture, technology/magic, nature, and government to create a well-rounded and enticing story for readers.

Part 6: “Landing Party” goes over the importance of editing, beta readers, publishing, and presenting it to readers.

Rocket Writers would make a perfect guide to tie in with your child’s summer reading goals, which could easily transform into summer writing goals. Or, to use as a writing curriculum during the school year. Either way, I guarantee this book will inspire your young writers and prepare them to, as Kristen Gwen says, “blast off on a solar-tastic journey” with their story.

Rocket Writers is available at AMAZON

If you are looking for fun summer reads for your middle grader, be sure to check out Kristen Gwen’s Ophelia Starcluck Adventures series! You can read more about them HERE.