There's a young author in Quebec (the Montreal Canadian province) who published her first book when she was ten, having written it when she was nine. She went on to write four more books in the same universe, though the other books weren't centered on the same characters. It was always interesting for me to follow her story because I was exactly the same as her, except I hadn't submitted anything. Granted, the book was less than a hundred pages and with 18-point font, but still. She's also exactly the same age as me. I wrote my first "novel" when I was nine/ten. And I've always been completely convinced that my writing is better than hers
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Hi, Jennifer. I'm sponsoring a "Write a Book in a Year" club at the high school where I teach. I started it mostly because I was working on my book, and I thought that there was no reason I should have the fun! Also, there's little support in the high school for kids who want to write creatively and no support for those who want to tackle a bigger project.
When I announced the first meeting, I thought I might see two or three kids--after all, as everyone knows, high school kids hate to write--but I had thirty kids and six teachers show up at that meeting.
It was amazing!
We're 10 weeks into the school year, now, and twenty-five kids are still coming to the meetings regularly to report their progress, share ideas, and to support each other. We have a club wikki and blog. You can see the blog at http://writeabookinayear.edublogs.org/
It seems like creative writing is taught at a younger age and encouraged more in schools these days. There are now many programs like NaNoWriMo's Young Writer's Program that help these aspiring authors get started. I wish these programs had been around when I was a kid!
I remember that Amelia Atwater-Rhodes was fifteen when her first novel was published. Or maybe sixteen, and it was written when she was fifteen. I was incredibly jealous, although like Paolini, Atwater-Rhodes' writing was really not ready to be widely published. But I guess there's stuff out there that is published when it shouldn't be. :)
Basically, he ended up with all charges dropped except a contempt of court charge when he went near a school after being explicitly ordered not to by the judge. (He was with a friend picking up the friend's sister. The judge didn't seem to care.) Anyway, he ended up with time served + 2 years probation on that charge. The other charges were unprovable.
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When I announced the first meeting, I thought I might see two or three kids--after all, as everyone knows, high school kids hate to write--but I had thirty kids and six teachers show up at that meeting.
It was amazing!
We're 10 weeks into the school year, now, and twenty-five kids are still coming to the meetings regularly to report their progress, share ideas, and to support each other. We have a club wikki and blog. You can see the blog at http://writeabookinayear.edublogs.org/
There are kids out there who want to write.
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http://bowjamesbow.ca/2005/10/10/all-charges-dro.shtml
Basically, he ended up with all charges dropped except a contempt of court charge when he went near a school after being explicitly ordered not to by the judge. (He was with a friend picking up the friend's sister. The judge didn't seem to care.) Anyway, he ended up with time served + 2 years probation on that charge. The other charges were unprovable.
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