by Lucy Adams
Parents are happy to find out that their child is gifted. They’re happy to see the sprouts of a serious talent that require their support. But when it comes to the child's attempts to express his thoughts, experiences, and feelings through literature, parents are taking it very cautiously.
But what to do and how to behave if a child has decided to devote himself to literature? How go grow a pen wizard?
Most parents at least once tried to predict the future of their children, even understanding that the life can be very different... Surprisingly, but sometimes they are openly hostile. Even the most optimistic parents from time to time imagine unpleasant pictures of a frozen young man with folded into a tube manuscripts timidly knocking on the door of the editorial board or an unrewarded genius dying in poverty somewhere under a leaking roof...Quite an unenviable fate, huh? Of course, any parent would do anything to protect the child from this.
However, you shouldn’t be hasty with the conclusions.
Firstly, not all children kept the desire to write in adulthood. Ask your friends: for sure, some of them wrote poems or stories, but very and very few became professional writers.
Well, there’s nothing wrong with writing "for the desk drawer," having no intention to publish. As a hobby, writing is not worse than collecting figurines of favorite heroes or computer games. Through creativity, a child expresses his thoughts and feelings, and this helps him to endure the difficulties in communicating with the peers.
Secondly, even if the child's desire to be a writer eventually won’t go away and he’ll only get stronger in it, there is nothing threatening for his future prosperity. Of course, very few writers can boast substantial fees, but who told you that your child isn’t "a special one?" However, if you want to play it safe, provide him with a good education to make him financially independent from the mercy of publishers. Finally, you send your child’s works to one of writing services to get more details about his professional prospects.
Parents often forget that the child, fascinated by literary works, does not necessarily have to self-realize through fiction. There are so many niches, so the direction can be very different. If your offspring cannot boast the makings of a genius novelist, he may become a journalist or a scientist! The ability to accurately and clearly express thoughts on paper, actually, opens up broad prospects.
How to Discern Talent? One of the reasons for the cautious attitude of adults towards the child’s writing endeavors is the problem of an adequate assessment of the results. It often happens that, after reading a couple of the stories of his son or daughter, the parent got disappointed. "I don’t see the talent," – says the father or mother. "He was so excited to write, but the result is horrible. I don't want my child to spend a lot of time on something in wich he can hardly achieve good results."
But here you shouldn’t rush.
Firstly, even the best authors are unstable. A few failed stories don’t mean your child has graphomania. Maybe, the aspiring writer just showed you his worst story.
Secondly, no one is born with an already formed writing skills and abilities. Without learning the academic drawing, even the most prodigy artist won’t be able to transfer to paper or canvas the images arising in his mind. Similarly, the young writer can’t write a brilliant novel until he is literal and able to accurately choose unbanal epithets and build a good composition. That’s why please don’t expect an impeccable text from the very first try.
Literary talent has many facets: someone can pick up accurate epithet up almost immediately while someone is talented in making exciting plots. Practice shows that the literary talent develops rather slowly, which is especially true for novelists. If the 10-year-old poet can compose a brilliant line, even the most talented writers start creating stylistically and compositionally adjusted texts, being 15 year-olds teenagers or older.
How to Cope with the Talent?
#1 Stick to a Correct Line of Attitude
Whatever the real level of the literary talent of the child, you have to develop a correct line of attitude. In no case blame the child for what he writers. If he sacrifices the study for the sake of writing, try to convince him that inspiration won’t run away if he set the work aside for some time.
#2 Show Your Respect
Hostile attitude towards the child's creativity will not just negative affect the writing potential, but also ruin the microclimate and friendly relationships in the family. Whatever your think, remember that the child has the right to respect for his work.
#3 Accustom the Young Writer to Criticism
It happens that parents, moved by the noblest motives to teach their child to write better, criticize his works in such a way that he quickly loses the desire to show his opuses in future. To avoid this, refrain from assessments of the young writer himself. Instead, evaluate a specific text and a particular side of it. If you see that your remark hurt the child, remind him that he can learn how to write better than he writes today. Be considerate and friendly. The calm and balanced attitude to criticism will come in handy in future, and not only in situations related to writing.
#4 Allow Your Child to Take Part in Literary Contest
Usually, contenders are given several tasks of a different kind to choose from (including literary and journalistic). If the child doesn't succeed, explain to him that writing a coherent text on a given topic in a limited period of time requires copious vocabulary that he can get by reading more classical and publicistic literature. Explain to your descendant that to achieve success in any business, he should first get familiar with the results of the predecessors.
#5 Encouraged Your Child
In the end, this is a worthy alternative to computer games and suspicious friends.
About the author Lucy Adams:
Lucy is a former school teacher and an aspiring blogger. She’s a generalist so that she easily copes with a huge variety of topics, from business and marketing to parenting and children psychology. Lucy is an open-hearted and always-ready-to-collaborate author, so you can always expect high-quality paper from her side in return to your requests.
