One of the arts that is quickly being lost in the world of formal education and standardized tests is creative writing. Most authors who are famous today began by writing entertaining and elaborate stories in the backs of notebooks or at home. Today, your child can type or handwrite the stories and poetry, but encouraging creative writing can foster a child’s spirit and desire to learn as well as helping her produce beautiful work.
1. Provide A Beautiful Backdrop
Much of the fun of creative writing is having the perfect place to actually write. Buy your child a special notebook, journal or diary and encourage her to use that notebook as her writing notebook. Tell her how much you enjoy her work and how much you’d like to see her create something wonderful in the notebook to share with others. Hopefully she’ll start working in the notebook – even if she’s initially filling it with hearts and the names of boys. That might be what it takes to break the virtual ice of a new notebook.
2. Read Creative Works
If your child loves poetry, read her more poetry books. With the help of the librarian in her school, your daughter can check out a book of poetry and prose to help her learn the format and style of each. Simply reading wonderful works can be inspiring as so many of the books are writing in such beautiful terms. Your child might not be able to writing in Shakespearean English, but she can certainly enjoy the cadence and flow of the written words and mimic it with her own writing.
3. Share Her Works
Sharing your materials when you’re writing creatively is often one of the most enjoyable aspects of the whole job. Encourage your little one to share her word with you. If she’s writing a poem or a story, call up her grandparents or aunts to share the story with them. Hopefully they applaud so that your child can feel the power of sharing the written word and become inspired to do more of it.
4. Publish a Story
You can help your child publish one of her favorite stories by arranging the pages inside two book covers created from scratch. There are book jackets available that can simply be placed over the pages of the story, but is far more meaningful to create your own book including illustrations and cover art. When the book is completely finished, you can bind it using clue, scissors, tape or anything else that will hold the book securely. The finished book makes a wonderful keepsake for Mother’s Day or any other day that makes you want a bit of something special.
5. Help Writing Become Habit
There is a great deal of writing that can be done in a short amount of time but there are also many others around that can impact the quality of student work. In the case of the creative writing, the best way to finish a long, creative story is to have your child work on it a bit extra every day. Soon, the work becomes habit and your little one can sit at the table spinning fantasies and other fiction works. As often as your child practices his best writing abilities, the more developed and in-depth her works will become offering her a valuable outlet for creativity and even stress.
