As for the mistrust with their 'powers' as a writer, imagine it like this. Surgeons and doctors look at people and can just see all kinds of things about them with a trained eye for observation. The writer is the same. They are going to see the same thing as you but with a different interpretation.

Once you let go of the fear about your child being a writer, you will be happier and so will your child. Most child writers will go underground if you are not open and honest. For example, if you make it a big deal that they write, chances are they are going to find a place where you aren't and write

Most writers report trying novels in their nine to twelve year old time frame. Neither shock or surprise me, having both been a child writer and also having done a research project on child writers.

Simply put, if the child is the father of the man, wrote Ben Johnston, then why wouldn't a writer start as a child?

The question is whether or not your child is developing the writing bug. Some people learn to write and be good writers but then there is this group of child writers that we fail to recognize as prodigies. If it was music or art, then right away tongues would be wagging around town about this special child. With writers though, it appears to be recognized as a curse, nothing special and sometimes special but with reservation.

The reasons for this are two fold. Much like a parent who can't control what music their child is listening to on their IPOD, then the same fear is prevalent in the child-parent relationship. We want to make all kinds of decisions for our children, shouldn't we make the same about their writing? Shouldn't we be in charge of this? So in the first instance, we look at it as a loss of control when our child turns into a writer. And that is true. Much like a child that beats to a different drummer, we can't hear the drummer at all alongside our child.

The second reason is that writers when they grow up and pursue publication, they spend years on the invisible sideline, sending off mail to strangers. Nobody comes up to them on a street corner like they would with an artist and buy one of their masterpieces. If you're published, you're in the writing club. If you're not, well then, let's just not talk about you until you earn your stripes. In essence, writing doesn't seem to have any entry level job before publication. How can writing be a good job? The same fear a parent has for an unemployable child comes into play.

So let's start with the fear. You should be proud of your child for listening to what makes them different. Absolutely. No question. Much like a birthmark, this child has a mark. It is out of your control. Let it go.

As for the second instance, the most successful writers don't usually give up their day jobs until they are established writers. So don't worry about them starving. Your job as a parent is to give them a dose of reality that they need a job or career choice in the future. Let them know they can write on the side or adopt a job that has writing.

As for the mistrust with their 'powers' as a writer, imagine it like this. Surgeons and doctors look at people and can just see all kinds of things about them with a trained eye for observation. The writer is the same. They are going to see the same thing as you but with a different interpretation.

Once you let go of the fear about your child being a writer, you will be happier and so will your child. Most child writers will go underground if you are not open and honest. For example, if you make it a big deal that they write, chances are they are going to find a place where you aren't and write

The reasons for this are two fold. Much like a parent who can't control what music their child is listening to on their IPOD, then the same fear is prevalent in the child-parent relationship. We want to make all kinds of decisions for our children, shouldn't we make the same about their writing? Shouldn't we be in charge of this? So in the first instance, we look at it as a loss of control when our child turns into a writer. And that is true. Much like a child that beats to a different drummer, we can't hear the drummer at all alongside our child.

The second reason is that writers when they grow up and pursue publication, they spend years on the invisible sideline, sending off mail to strangers. Nobody comes up to them on a street corner like they would with an artist and buy one of their masterpieces. If you're published, you're in the writing club. If you're not, well then, let's just not talk about you until you earn your stripes. In essence, writing doesn't seem to have any entry level job before publication. How can writing be a good job? The same fear a parent has for an unemployable child comes into play.

So let's start with the fear. You should be proud of your child for listening to what makes them different. Absolutely. No question. Much like a birthmark, this child has a mark. It is out of your control. Let it go.

As for the second instance, the most successful writers don't usually give up their day jobs until they are established writers. So don't worry about them starving. Your job as a parent is to give them a dose of reality that they need a job or career choice in the future. Let them know they can write on the side or adopt a job that has writing.

As for the mistrust with their 'powers' as a writer, imagine it like this. Surgeons and doctors look at people and can just see all kinds of things about them with a trained eye for observation. The writer is the same. They are going to see the same thing as you but with a different interpretation.

Once you let go of the fear about your child being a writer, you will be happier and so will your child. Most child writers will go underground if you are not open and honest. For example, if you make it a big deal that they write, chances are they are going to find a place where you aren't and write

The second reason is that writers when they grow up and pursue publication, they spend years on the invisible sideline, sending off mail to strangers. Nobody comes up to them on a street corner like they would with an artist and buy one of their masterpieces. If you're published, you're in the writing club. If you're not, well then, let's just not talk about you until you earn your stripes. In essence, writing doesn't seem to have any entry level job before publication. How can writing be a good job? The same fear a parent has for an unemployable child comes into play.

So let's start with the fear. You should be proud of your child for listening to what makes them different. Absolutely. No question. Much like a birthmark, this child has a mark. It is out of your control. Let it go.

As for the second instance, the most successful writers don't usually give up their day jobs until they are established writers. So don't worry about them starving. Your job as a parent is to give them a dose of reality that they need a job or career choice in the future. Let them know they can write on the side or adopt a job that has writing.

As for the mistrust with their 'powers' as a writer, imagine it like this. Surgeons and doctors look at people and can just see all kinds of things about them with a trained eye for observation. The writer is the same. They are going to see the same thing as you but with a different interpretation.

Once you let go of the fear about your child being a writer, you will be happier and so will your child. Most child writers will go underground if you are not open and honest. For example, if you make it a big deal that they write, chances are they are going to find a place where you aren't and write

So let's start with the fear. You should be proud of your child for listening to what makes them different. Absolutely. No question. Much like a birthmark, this child has a mark. It is out of your control. Let it go.

As for the second instance, the most successful writers don't usually give up their day jobs until they are established writers. So don't worry about them starving. Your job as a parent is to give them a dose of reality that they need a job or career choice in the future. Let them know they can write on the side or adopt a job that has writing.

As for the mistrust with their 'powers' as a writer, imagine it like this. Surgeons and doctors look at people and can just see all kinds of things about them with a trained eye for observation. The writer is the same. They are going to see the same thing as you but with a different interpretation.

Once you let go of the fear about your child being a writer, you will be happier and so will your child. Most child writers will go underground if you are not open and honest. For example, if you make it a big deal that they write, chances are they are going to find a place where you aren't and write

As for the mistrust with their 'powers' as a writer, imagine it like this. Surgeons and doctors look at people and can just see all kinds of things about them with a trained eye for observation. The writer is the same. They are going to see the same thing as you but with a different interpretation.

Once you let go of the fear about your child being a writer, you will be happier and so will your child. Most child writers will go underground if you are not open and honest. For example, if you make it a big deal that they write, chances are they are going to find a place where you aren't and write there. If you seek to control it, they will go underground away from you and possibly show their stories to teachers and other people, not you. If you push them, they won't want to be pushed and will push back.

Here are some of the advantages to having a child writer:

a. a fresh perspective, a sharp pair of eyes watching and listening to everybody

My youngest son started talking when he was three months old. He was talking to me often, saying a few words for about a month. Well, my husband made me out to be a lunatic of course. But the eldest son, the one that is a child writer, he heard as well because his eyes and ears are always open. Were it not for him, I think I would have thought I was wacky, in need of a straight jacket. A fresh set of eyes and ears never hurts anyone.

b. great recounting of events of interest

Think of the hours of entertainment as your child writer stretches out a boring, dull recount of a day.

c. amazing works of art freely given

Imagine getting a piece of work nobody else will get to see. Treasure it. In and of itself, it is a masterpiece.

d. intrinsic motivation

This means the child writer doesn't perform for marks but for the reason of wanting to create. This skill can be taught but is already inherent in the child writer.

e. laughter

There will always be odd remarks and laughter from a child writer. They are just simply out of step with boundaries that other people have naturally.

One of my parents favorite moments with me is the story that makes them throw back their heads and laugh even today. I was two and decided that smoking was disgusting. I took all my grandma's cigarettes and broke each one evenly before throwing them into the toilet. When they asked me about it after getting screamed at of course by grandma, I told them that grandma needed to stop. That's it. Just stop. Nothing more.

f. they get there faster

Because of the odd fish out of water routine, child writers develop a maturity in their work and in their life that peer pressure can't even shake.

g. a real bubble of imaginary world cushions them

In all my years at school, I must have show about five or six people my work. Years later, I met a man who had been in my elementary class every year. My mouth fell open when he asked me how my writing was going. "You knew I wrote?" I asked. "Of course," he said. "You always wrote." The world doesn't seem so harsh with an imagination and a piece of paper.

So if your child has the writing bug, here are some things to do.

1. Take them shoppi