Writing Club Basics

 "You can make anything by writing." --C.S. Lewis

Right next to book clubs, writing clubs hit right at the core of what we love.  Having a future author in our midst is something we can all hope for. While writing clubs work for any age group, my focus for this article will be on teen writing clubs, but the elements in this can be easily applied to any age.

Chapter 1

The Groundwork

This is where you need to decide the absolute basics of your club. This needs to focus on when you will meet, how often, your age range, and your meeting length.

Chapter 2

The Meeting

What do you want your meetings to look like? Is the focus sharing their creations they bring with them or writing practice within the meeting itself? Perhaps some combination of both?

Chapter 3

The Sharing

During the sharing, it is important to make your teens comfortable to not only share but critique too. It is also a good time to decide if you will also be reading their work or do you just have teens critique one another.

Chapter 4

The Practicing

I personally love giving teens the opportunity to practice their writing. Writing prompts are a great source of inspiration and can get them thinking outside the box and help teach them how to overcome writer's block. Prompts can be anything: sample dialogue or plot, photos, music, etc.

Chapter 5

The Extras

Other things to consider:

• Food. Goodness gracious you must feed them!
• Icebreakers. We dread them, but they do help. Just make sure they aren't lame.
• Bribery. Consider rewarding those who share their work. Candy is always a pretty solid motivator.