How are schools killing young writers?

It took me 5 years to complete my first book. During that period, I changed my schools three times for different reasons. I decided to become a novelist in 8th grade, but finished by book by the time I finished 12th. During this period, a lot of my friends decided they would write a book too, but unfortunately, none of them finished the story they started. Why is it that a land that has always celebrated great writers and has a rich culture of stories and legends is failing to nurture young, curious minds?

In this article, we shall see the reasons why young writers are not coming to life, and also talk about some solutions that can ignite the writing culture among the youth of India.

Why are young writers dying?

Writing = Academics

In school, the purpose of writing is often associated with academic work or similarly related activities like essay writing or article writing. The only part where story writing is promoted is in exams, where children are required to write a story of around 500 words for 10 marks. Surprisingly, a lot of my friends wrote some genuinely creative stories that, I’ll admit, I used to get jealous of. However, the point to be noted here is that writing at a young age is devoid of the purpose to explore one’s imagination.

Hobby vs Career

Most parents see writing as a career filled with struggle and no money. Harsh, but true. However, storytelling or writing is a life skill that is ignored by most. Writing often is a way to express your inner thoughts and imagination. It doesn’t necessarily have to become your career. Most start-up founders will tell you the importance of conveying the story of a brand. Writing makes a human more self-aware. For me, writing was always exploring what I found my friends would love to read, and it made me build strong friendships.

Children writing = childish stories

Adults will often dismiss a story written by children as being written just for children. The narration might be naive, but many children view the world in a far different light than adults do. In my first writing workshop, where we asked children to write any story they wished to share, some children wrote about such nuanced topics that even I was surprised by their capability.

What can we do to nurture young writers?

1. Tell them they can write: 

Through my workshops, I realized that most children have the ability to write, but since there is no encouragement from their surroundings, they don’t even discover their abilities. For some reason, I have seen children thinking that writing a novel is something only adults are allowed to do, and it is very difficult. We need to tell children that they can write, but for that ability to shine, they need to start writing first. Once they start writing, even a novel seems approachable.

2. Stop asking them to correct their spelling:

When a child decides to write and share their stories with parents, the first thing parents pay attention to is not the plot, but the mistakes the children have made. It is natural for parents to correct their child; however, it is more important to celebrate their child’s achievement of writing a story.

3. Buy them Snaby’s StoryMaker Kit: 

I agree that this point is a promotion for the kit we have designed for children to nurture their creativity, but Snaby’s is the only toy brand in India whose sole focus is to help children find their hidden writer and artist. More than just a purchase, you are showing your kid that you care about their imagination, and this is all a child needs. A gesture of assurance.

Snaby’s is a toy brand that designs original characters and asks children to write their own stories on them. As we grow, our range of toys and characters will grow with us. We are soon launching our creativity kit and action figures. E-mail us to know more.