Creative writing beyond storytelling
Creative writing programs for children or even for adults that matter are short term crash courses. Typically these programs give a structure to follow and a story prompt. Over a short duration the story gets written, feedback given and final story published after extensive editing or a certificate rewarded.
If writing a story was so easy, we wouldn't have to look for good writing to read. It should be everywhere around us. Sadly that isn't the case.
Free online content for children's stories provides ample examples of poor writing
There are several resources that have stories that are free to read. While it may be tempting to pick these for your child instead of subscribing to a good library or even a visit to your local book store to browse and buy books, these cannot be a steady source of stories for your child. That is if you want your child to become a life long reader and write well.
A random search for example, yielded a story that featured a 70 year old stuck at the bus stop. As the story progresses, the text reads that the 70 year old called his/her parents as it was getting late and there was no luck. Then a stranger came and then later he was shot dead by the police. As absurd as the story is, it is shocking to see this appearing as a children's story. Poorly written in terms of language and plot, this children's story is a good example of why writing needs practice, editing and feedback.
Why is that?
Writing a good story isn't just about following a structure, making sure there is rise in tension, suspense and resolution. It is also logical consistency, the writing style, the choice of words used and the flow in language. All this comes with plenty of reading a variety of texts, observation and analysis of writing styles. Also with considerable writing practice with focus on editing.
Pick the acknowledgment pages of any renowned author's book that you might have enjoyed reading. There is bound to be a note of thanks to the editing and review team. Without them the book doesn't get produced and that should speak volumes about the importance of editing. Tremendous amount of effort goes into producing a good quality children's book, for that matter any good book.
Tremendous amount of effort goes into producing a good quality children's book, for that matter any good book.
Free stories available online haven't gone through editing or review and are generally posted by the author hoping for readership. It is upto you to decipher the quality of the writing and the impact it has on your child's language development.
Children writing anything as a continuous process of learning
Creative writing is generally associated with story writing. While writing stories is a kind of creative writing, other writing applications such as journaling, creating an ad, writing a poem or even writing an essay in response to a prompt are also creative writing.
What is common across writing applications is that we write for a reader to read. Hence the writing must be interesting and easy to read. To start with it needs to have a good topic or introductory sentence. The content needs to be relevant to the subject in hand. Children often tend to carried away with their thoughts and often don't revisit their writing. Having a structure becomes redundant as a result. For example, if a child is asked to write a paragraph about his favorite festival and what he likes most about it. The child might begin writing about the festival and go on a complete tangent in terms of the story behind the festival, in the process completely ignoring the requirement of the writing prompt.
While it's normal for a child to get a little distracted and move away from the core subject, discussion based feedback is important to enable the child to become aware of this tendency, its impact on the reader and by demonstration how by revisiting one's writing, one can self-correct any such deflection from the core topic. Over time, they set themselves right, never to forget the need to stay on topic.
While it's normal for a child to get a little distracted and move away from the core subject, discussion based feedback is important to enable the child to become aware of this tendency, its impact on the reader and by demonstration how by revisiting one's writing, one can self-correct any such deflection from the core topic. Over time, they set themselves right, never to forget the need to stay on topic.
Editing also gives the writer a reader's point of view which at times brings out facets that are good to read as well as those that can easily put off the reader. Knowing both sides enables them to become better writers and in the process communicate more coherently.
Incorporating editing as a step in the writing process
Writing regularly, editing one's own work and seeking reader feedback helps tremendously over time. Progress happens over time and there is no short cut to excel in writing. It requires hard work.
Editing can be in terms of:
a) Experimenting with a variety of topic sentences
b) Choice of words
c) Rearranging sentences, paragraphs even to see if the flow improves.
d) Checking for spellings and punctuations.
e) Organization in terms of paragraphs or bullet points as the case may be.
No matter what your child chooses to do when he/she grows up, the ability to communicate coherently in writing is a crucial skill. True AI (Artificial Intelligence) arguably has simplified the task of writing but what it does not deliver on is a human's thoughts/emotions which is the touch of originality. Without it, it is just random text combed through the internet.
Both weekday and weekend batches are available at the Young Readers' Club. While this program is for the 8-12 age group, the Young Writers' Club program for the 13-15 age group offers a weekly platform to read and discuss curated articles from the news, observe writing approaches and practise one's writing skills.
NEW! Musings from the Young Writers' Club is an online magazine showcasing the work we do at the Young Writers' Club.
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