Welcome to Volume 1 of our 2024 newsletter! We're giving ourselves a deadline and committing to connecting with you each week. We've aspired to do for a lonnnng time. But now that we've created a deadline (and added a volume counter to the top of the page lol) we are going to make it happen!
We don't speak often enough about the power of the DEADLINE and how it can help kids to write more. It's working for us on this newsletter, and likely this is how it works in your writing life too!
Admit it. You can work on a piece of writing forever and never call it done. It is the deadline that pushes it to the finish line.
- You finish the speech because you have to give it on Saturday.
- You write the note to your grandmother because today is her birthday.
- You finish your holiday card because the Shutterfly sale ends at midnight. (True story by the way.)
One goal you might consider for the new year is to offer your kids more deadlines to finish pieces of writing.
(Now before we go too far with that, we have to add that not everything they write needs to go to the finish line. In fact, it is better if it doesn't. The ideal is that they are writing lots of pieces and choose a favorite from a plethora of work to submit to the deadline!)
One way that works for us is offer kids deadlines once a month or, if that feels too heavy, try every OTHER month.
What could this deadline be? It could be as simple as a deadline for hanging a piece on “the fridge of fame." It could be more involving such as submitting to a library writing contest. It could be putting a cover on a story and having it ready for Grandma and Grandpa when they come to dinner. As long as there is an audience involved, it will work GREAT.
As you know, finishing up a piece of writing for an audience gives a next level experience. Suddenly, you need an ending. Suddenly spelling matters. Suddenly, there is more interest in a good title. Suddenly you want to make sure periods are included.
Deadlines allow this to happen!
A fun suggestion for kicking off the new year: What if you give your writers a deadline sometime between now and February 29th? (Did you know we're in a Leap Year? That's a fun deadline, right?) Think of a name for your family publishing company (Best Writers Inc? Write Away Publishing?) and help them choose one piece of writing to take to the finish line.
Celebrate this piece and let your children experience the satisfaction that comes from completing and having others READ their work.
It's one of the most motivating things we can do for writers! We love you and are cheering for lots of great writing experiences for your family in 2024!
