{"id":869,"date":"2025-12-11T15:29:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T20:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/?p=869"},"modified":"2025-12-11T15:29:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T20:29:45","slug":"how-to-support-your-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/how-to-support-your-writer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Support Your Writer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Dear Writopia parents,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many parents have asked us how they can best support their writers alongside us, so we put together a list of tips for you. The keys to supporting your writer are 1) trust-building, 2) celebration, and 3) deep engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TRUST-BUILDING <\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Be positive!<\/strong><ul><li>Writing can make us feel both gratified and vulnerable at the same time, so whether you are discussing your child\u2019s creative or analytical writing, as parents, always approach a piece first and foremost based on its strengths. This will help your writer develop the confidence needed to keep writing, try new things in their work, and most importantly, share with you more often. Regardless of how silly, serious, or sparse the writing might be, tell your child what it made you imagine, think, and feel.<ul><li>Let <strong>us <\/strong>offer the <strong>constructive <\/strong>feedback: During workshop, we start by offering strengths-based feedback. Then we work rigorously to help each writer grow as writers and thinkers. Since our instructors are not related to the writers, writers often embrace constructive feedback openly from them. Instructors offer insights and suggestions to writers on everything from character and story development, to literary style and tool usage, to sentence structure. We spend the first half of the week on story development, and then we integrate mechanics\/grammar\/spelling into our conversations toward the second half of the week.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Don\u2019t fear your writer\u2019s work, no matter the content! \u201cFiction is a powerful and ancient virtual reality technology that simulates the big dilemmas of human life,\u201d suggests evolutionary psychologist, Jonathan Gottschall. He points out that the typical plotlines of children\u2019s playtime\u2014 barbies and superheros alike \u2014&nbsp; feature rambunctious conflict and struggle. Therein lies the essential value of fiction, he argues. \u201cThe constant firing of our neurons in response to fictional stimuli strengthens and refines the neural pathways that lead to skillful navigation of life\u2019s problems. From this point of view, we are attracted to fiction not because of an evolutionary glitch, but because fiction is, on the whole, good for us. This is because human life, especially social life, is intensely complicated and the stakes are high. Fiction allows our brains to practice reacting to the kinds of challenges that are, and always were, most crucial to our success as a species\u2026\u201d In other words, writers help themselves, and all of humanity around them, process fears, decompress, and prepare for life\u2019s challenges often without even knowing it. In very rare circumstances, we will reach out to parents if we are concerned by story content. Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/a-message-from-our-executive-director\/\">our approach <\/a>here! Main takeaway: celebrate, rather than fear, your children\u2019s zany, sometimes darkly dramatic, and wonderful imaginations. They are a gift to us all.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Young writers (ages 6-8)<\/strong> are often excited to share their work with you when they get home and\/or ask you to continue typing for them as they narrate. Cherish this beautiful moment by typing every single word they dictate with as little editing as possible and with absolutely no criticizing. If you do this, they are more likely to continue to share with you as they get older.<\/li><li>If your writer is hesitant to share a piece with you:<ul><li>Ask them to show you ONE line that they\u2019re especially proud of&#8211;and, most importantly, LOVE THAT LINE! This shows your writers that they can trust you to be positive and \u201cget\u201d them and their stories.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>If your writer won\u2019t share their work with you,<ul><li>Don\u2019t fret; it\u2019s very common. Writing can feel quite personal to them. It sometimes takes a lot before writers feel comfortable enough to share their work with the people they love most.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Please know that if you have questions or concerns, or haven\u2019t yet and would like to read a piece, you can reach out to us at any time.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Email us!<\/strong> At Writopia, we\u2019re happy to discuss any questions you have about your writer\u2019s stories, process them with you, and integrate your insights in the most productive way into workshop. This way, you remain a source of positivity to your writer while we take the lead as rigorous workshop instructors. Email us anytime with your thoughts or questions.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>CELEBRATION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Take note of your writer\u2019s goals.<\/strong><ul><li>Celebrate all the good humor or drama and literary style that defines your writer\u2019s piece. Encourage your writer to share his\/her\/their work at readings and\/or through submissions. As writers, we cherish the affirmation that comes from recognition, especially from the ones closest to us. Keep in mind, though, that because writing is such a personal experience, if your writer feels pressured to submit or read by you or anyone else, and that they aren\u2019t in charge of setting their own goals, they may lose interest in the entire process and close up. If your writer isn\u2019t ready to send out work, let them know that there\u2019s no pressure to submit. We will work with them to get there over days, weeks, months, or years of time.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Let your writer know how proud you are of them for working through the writer\u2019s <em>process<\/em>. It\u2019s both gratifying and challenging to collect one\u2019s innermost thoughts and put them down in words.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>DEEP ENGAGEMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Ask questions about your writer\u2019s work.<\/strong><ul><li>In addition to or rather than asking, \u201cHow was workshop today?\u201d or, \u201cWhat did you learn today?\u201d try the questions like these with more dynamic answers in mind:<ul><li>Who is your main character?&nbsp;<\/li><li>What point of view is it written in? Is there an \u201cI\u201d narrator?<\/li><li>What does s\/he want?<\/li><li>What is your favorite obstacle that s\/he\u2019s facing?<\/li><li>What scene did you write today?<\/li><li>What part of your story did you share today with the group?<\/li><li>Teach me the writing game you played!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Be a role model.<\/strong><ul><li>Reading, writing, taking risks, and supporting literacy and literary growth yourself are all crucial to supporting your writer\u2019s own work.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Talk to your writers about books, TV shows, movies, and video games that they enjoy, you enjoy, or you both enjoy. Having positive discussions about stories that aren\u2019t theirs is a great way to deepen their literacy and show them how important writing and intellectual discourse is to you and to our society as a whole.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We look forward to continuing to work with your writers as they grow in Writopia! Please do not hesitate to reach out to either of us anytime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Warmly,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rebecca Wallace-Segall, Founder &amp; CEO<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yael Schick, Executive Director<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Writopia Lab<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Writopia parents, Many parents have asked us how they can best support their writers alongside us, so we put together a list of tips for you. The keys to supporting your writer are 1) trust-building, 2) celebration, and 3) deep engagement. TRUST-BUILDING &nbsp; Be positive! Writing can make us feel both gratified and vulnerable &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-parents","entry entry-center"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9aRpX-e1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":245,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/talk-scholastic-awards-results\/","url_meta":{"origin":869,"position":0},"title":"How to Talk About The Scholastic Awards&#8217; Results by Writopia Founder Rebecca Wallace-Segall and Program Directors Yael Schick &#038; Danielle Sheeler","author":"Rebecca Wallace-Segall","date":"January 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This year\u2019s results for the Regional Scholastic Writing Awards are intended to be announced in most regions on January 28th, 2021. Many of our writers ages 13-18 will find out that their pieces were honored with honorable mentions, silver keys, and\/or gold keys! We are so, so happy for all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;For Parents&quot;","block_context":{"text":"For Parents","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/category\/for-parents\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":296,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/a-message-from-our-executive-director\/","url_meta":{"origin":869,"position":1},"title":"Reflections on the 2018-2019 Year at Writopia Lab","author":"Writopia Lab","date":"June 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0This has been such an incredible school year at Writopia across the country! We served over 5,000 invigorated kids and teens in safe space, censorship-free writing workshops at our labs, in schools, in partnership with community-based organizations, and at our sleepaway camp.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Every day, we witnessed the key to effective writing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Newsletter&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Newsletter","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/category\/newsletter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/writopiagala-040517-226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/writopiagala-040517-226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/writopiagala-040517-226.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/writopiagala-040517-226.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/writopiagala-040517-226.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/writopiagala-040517-226.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":165,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/writopia-response\/","url_meta":{"origin":869,"position":2},"title":"In Response to The NYTimes","author":"Writopia Lab","date":"August 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"By Rebecca Wallace-Segall, Danielle Sheeler, and Yael Schick As literacy curriculum developers, we enjoyed the New York Times article \u201cWhy Kids Can\u2019t Write.\u201d But we were surprised by the limited view it provided into the cultural landscape of literacy education. 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