(photo by Julia M. Cameron/Pexels)
Are your children stuck at home with nothing to do other than stare at a screen and pretend to care about what they’re doing?
Well, the Pasadena Public Library wants to help get your kid’s creative mind motivated by offering a virtual Teen Writers Meetup, on Sunday, February 14, starting at 2 p.m.
Teen Ink, a website and national teen magazine that promotes teenage writing, publishes some of the most inspired works generated by teens because it believes creative writing – and creative reading – are activities every student, or even every person, should learn to appreciate and love.
Creative writing “expands your mind and helps you gain a better understanding of the English language and the world around you,” an article on the site says.
Teen Ink even encourages schools and teachers to teach fiction more in English classes, because it is “good for teenagers” anywhere.
Booksicals, a Los Angeles-based company that collaborates with artists, editors, music producers, dancers, choreographers, actors, designers and film producers to make books, instructional and musical videos, soundtracks, musical scripts and theater kits, says creative writing workshops are “a fantastic way to continue to foster that innate creativity and love of reading in your child.” These workshops provide a supportive environment where young writers can be inspired “to embrace their inner selves through writing,” says Booksicals.
Booksicals also says creative writing is “a profoundly influential means of self-expression,” and that the ability to write well is a skill that never goes away.
Moreover, within a creative writing workshop, your child is surrounded by other people, including fellow teens, with creative interests, and this is where they are able to tap into their imaginations – by writing and producing plays, engaging in collaborative writing, and participating in fun thematic explorations.
“The workshop experience builds participants’ knowledge through expanding their view of life outside of their understanding,” says Booksicals. “An immediate benefit of attending a workshop is the chance to play with a whole list of new vocabulary words.”
Finally, since writing is often a solitary experience, participating in a creative writing workshop offers a chance for teens to develop interpersonal communication skills and gives the young author “plenty of opportunities to practice voicing an opinion within a supportive group setting.”
“Whether you’re crafting poetry or a novel, writing can be lonely as it’s typically a solo endeavor, but meeting with others who share the passion can be great for inspiration and encouragement,” the Pasadena Public Library said in announcing Sunday’s Teen Writers Meetup.
To register your kids for the workshop, visit the Pasadena Public Library’s calendar page, www.cityofpasadena.net/
For more information, email Jane Gov, jgov@cityofpasadena.net.
