Creative Writing beyond junior school.

Creative writing is a pastime that should not cease once your child becomes a teen.

I am often asked if I do classes for older children and the answer is yes, I do. The Young Writers group was specially set up with older children in mind. My thinking at the time was, surely there must be older children who love to write. Not every teen gets bored with writing once they reach secondary school, do they?

The thing is, I am competing with social media, usually Snapchat. That’s just one of the many things that take a teen’s attention away from the traditional pastime of creative writing. In addition, I feel that the teens who do like creative writing are often the quiet ones, and so finding them is difficult. Where are you, my friends?

There are lots of adult writers outs there.

I’m a writer, so I’m obviously going to say that creative writing is a joy. The thing is, I’m not in the minority.

Thousands of people on my social media feeds are writers. Perhaps they’ve come back to writing, or writing has found them. It’s something people feel drawn to doing; it’s cathartic.

When I visit schools, I always say that as human beings, the thing that sets us apart from animals is that we are creative. It’s why we have evolved as a species – we invent, make, and solve problems. All of these wouldn’t be possible without creativity. And something that’s not often acknowledged is how important creativity is to our lives – we are nothing without it. Take away someone’s ability to create and they will be a miserable shadow of their former self within no time.

Am I getting too deep here? Sorry. I’m just passionate about how important creativity is to our well-being, and I think that’s why so many people turn to writing as an outlet or an escape.

Where does the passion for writing go when children turn to teens?

I get many parents contacting me telling me how much their child loves to write and create stories. Where then, does that passion go once the children become teens?

Perhaps it’s no longer cool, and of course, I understand how important it is to not stand out when you’re a teen. Fitting in and keeping under the radar are the easiest ways to get through those awkward years. There is so much evidence, though, citing why creative writing is important, particularly for children and teens. This report by the Scottish Book Trust looks at some of that evidence.

We talk about finding our tribe though, don’t we? Well, I’m here. And I’m facilitating that tribe. I’ve been teaching creative writing classes for teens since 2017 and they’ve brought me so much joy; some children have only left reluctantly because they’ve had GCSEs or equivalent to focus on.

At the Young Writers, we do many different things, from challenging writing prompts to poetry and a deeper delve into genre fiction. We’ve even written and illustrated picture books. Some of the teens that have come to my creative writing classes have been lively and full of chat. Others have been quiet observers; it really doesn’t matter what sort of person you are because when we are together as a group, we are all the same. We’re there because of our love of writing (and reading, I might add) and because we value that weekly hour of absorbing ourselves in the words and worlds we create.

Take a look at the Young Writers Group for your teen.

So, parents, if you’re reading this and have a teen who loves creative writing, please look at the Young Writers group.

It’s held weekly during term time and is online, so it doesn’t matter where you are in the world just so long as the timings work for you. Being online has made the group accessible to many more people and has made Young Writers multinational. We are over the nightmares of online schooling now and we value being able to rock up every week and sit together ‘in the same room’ without the awkwardness of literally being in the same room – something I’ve found invaluable for the teen sector. Adding to this, the groups are small (never any more than ten) so it’s less intimidating too.

My personal view is that teens need to access the power of creative writing the most, out of all of us, and if I can help even one young person through what I do, I will be very happy indeed.

Please take a look at the Young Writers group and sign up for a trial session if you’re not sure about committing to the full term.