How to Encourage Creative Writing Skills
Bryanna Licciardi defines creative writing as “The art of making things up. [It is] writing that is original, self-expressive [and] entertaining.” Creative writing skills are important for developing your child’s:
- Creative thinking
- Ability to express emotions
- Punctuation and grammar
- Organized thinking
The issue is that some children don’t enjoy any form of writing, even if it’s creative. Your child may be the captain of this ship; maybe nothing you’ve tried has really helped your child develop a love for creative writing.
Fret not. We have some tips that can help you solve this problem.
Encourage All Types of Writing
Creative writing isn’t limited to short stories. Your child can write poems, jokes, riddles, comic books, plays, and songs. The list is endless. Therefore, the best strategy to use for encouraging your child to embrace creative writing is to find a writing format that relates to your child’s interests.
For instance, your child may love listening to music and may enjoy creating lyrics. You can then encourage your child even further by encouraging him or her to learn how to mix beats using one of these beat-making platforms and combine them with the lyrics to create a fun song.
Transform Creative Writing Into a Family Game Night Activity
A family game night can be a great bonding experience, but it doesn’t have to be limited to board games. Here are some fun ideas for adding creative writing to the mix.
- Split your family into teams and challenge each team to write the introduction to a short story. The team with the most captivating introduction wins!
- Challenge each family member to write a poem based on a topic (no slang allowed).
- Have a sing-off challenge where you encourage your children to compete against each other to come up with the best lyrics for a specific beat.
Use a Dialogue Journal
Journaling is great for helping your child get comfortable with self-expression. A dialogue journal is essentially a written conversation between two people where they share their thoughts and ideas.
We wrote about the importance of journaling in this article. The aim of the dialogue journal is to help your child get comfortable with written expression, show you what your child is thinking and give you an opportunity to better gauge your child’s English skills. You can also use it as a way to help your child come up with creative solutions to problems he or she may face.
All you need to create a dialogue journal is a notebook and pen. Your child can add designs to the book to make it personal. You and your child should then discuss how often you’re going to write in the journal and a good place where it will be kept so that both of you can access it.
Final Words
It’s important for your child to view creative writing as a fun activity rather than a chore. We’ve outlined three ways to make creative writing fun. Chances are that you’ll start seeing results when you consistently apply these strategies.
Still, need help? Hire one of the online English tutors to help your child master creative writing.