Instruction for Advanced Writers

The Advanced Writers Program

First, a Little Background on the Gifted Young Writer

Young people who demonstrate advanced writing potential often experience a love of ideas, reading and writing that stands out from their peers. They can be passionate, insightful and sensitive. Unfortunately, they often suffer from under-stimulation in their school environments. This kind of under-stimulation can have detrimental long-term effects, including frustration, a sense of aloneness and isolation, doubts about self-worth, and — perhaps most detrimental of all — never coming to see what is really possible for themselves.

Why don’t most schools nurture bright young writers to their full potential? Schools teach to the norm and simply do not have the resources to, or even more likely, do not know how to, nurture this kind of child.

But with the right kind of stimulation and teaching, your child could have…

a rooted sense of themselves as a writer that will last a lifetime
a huge sense of confidence and accomplishment
the skill and enthusiasm to live richly in the world of ideas
a unique completed project that makes them stand out among their peers

The Savvy Young Writers Advanced Writers Program

The Advanced Writers Program is a one-on-one tutelage program for young writers with high potential.

What it covers:

Students learn skills in writing technique, the writing process, creativity management.
Students are introduced to classic works and learn about the lives of other writers, past and present, to discover that they have a place within a “community of writers.”
At the end of the program students walk away with a finished work or portfolio of work which they can have for themselves forever, or, if they wish, they can choose to be guided through the process of self-publication.

The program accomplishes this through two phases.

1) The 3-month Foundation: The Life of a Writer Toolbox

What does it mean to be an avid reader and writer? How can you manage creative spurts when they come, and pull them out of their hiding places when they are hard to find? How can you calm down self-criticism? What have other authors said about the writing process?

This is the foundation on “the writing life” that gifted writers rarely receive in school.

2) The 9-Month “Studio Project”

From this foundation students launch into the writing process on a focused project. The project type a student wants to do usually becomes clear to them during the foundational phase. Students in the past have written poetry portfolios, published chapter “books” online through a blog we set up together (lots of fun!), or self-published a book.

We use this project to study technique, writing development, word choice, flow, mechanics, and style. Students also learn about how the writing process pieces that we covered in the Foundation phase emerge in their own writing. They also continue to read and learn from the works of other writers and tie this back to their own writing.

The sense of accomplishment that comes from completing a project like this is tremendous. Though the whole program builds skills and confidence, the experience of completing this project solidifies a student’s confidence and sense of self as a writer. We have a party to celebrate! Students invite whomever in their lives they wish to thank for helping them achieve their accomplishment.

“All the talented individuals we interviewed invested considerable practice and training time, which rivaled the time devoted to…any other activity. And this time in many ways was more intense and rewarding than the time they put into almost anything else.” – Benjamin Bloom, from Developing Talent in Young People

In Summary…

The Advanced Writer’s Program helps students develop skills that extends their ability, connects them to the larger context of life as a writer, and gives them a concrete experience of their expressive potential.

Student Work and Unsolicited Testimonials

8-year-old “Samantha” (her “pen name,” not her real one, to protect her privacy) didn’t see herself as a writer, but her father saw it in her. She was imaginative and always had a book in her face! And she wrote short pieces on her own outside of school.

Even though she went to a well-regarded private school in San Jose, she didn’t feel inspired in writing there. After careful thought, she agreed to work with me, and in the year that followed she found that she had special talent as a writer.

With my help, she published a blo g chronicling her process of writing her first boo k, Runway Mary — a story about a young girl who got selected by her former-model-turned-English-teacher to undergo training as a model — which she is just now self-publishing. (If you visit her blog, leaving a comment will bring her much delight.) You can listen to this short interview with her (I play the role of a radio interviewer!) to hear her enthusiasm for the process she went through in our work together.

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What Parents Have Said…

“I am so amazed at the intellectual transformation you have guided our son through. The other day he mentioned how lucky he was to have such a fantastic teacher for English. I asked him, ‘What is her name again?’ as iit has been ages since back to school night. He replied, ‘You know, it’s Sam.’”

- Mother of student at Terman Middle School, Palo Alto

“You have been our son’s tutor, mentor and friend. That’s a relationship that’s hard to come by.”

- Mother of a student at Gunn High School

“So far, your class with our daughter is the only academic class she has that she seems to enjoy going to. It’s amazing.”

- Parent of a student at Harker School who was frustrated in her classes

“Working with you has really made such a huge difference in our son’s writing level this year. I also really appreciate the guidance you give him as a mentor. “

- Mother of middle school student at Terman Middle School

Program Details and Logistics

Program Details

The program provides:

36 one-on-one student sessions (1 hour each) over 13 months. This turns into a “generally weekly” meeting, with allowances for school vacations, etc.
All of the necessary planning and preparation to craft lessons that are individualized to your child (usually 1-2 hours “behind the scenes” per lesson)
3 one-hour consultations with parents/guardians. Your support of your child is a big part of the process, so we meet at regular intervals to touch basis about how the process is going.
Log sheets documenting our work each session

Blog and Publishing

There are additional costs associated with blogs and self-publishing (see below). Blogs and self-published books work the best when students get to have a say in the design — then it feels like it’s THEIRS. I may have them, for example, design a book cover, and then get it to a graphic artist to create their design in a cool, digital format. I may help them design “business cards” that they can hand out with their blog site on it and with the official title “writer.” Or they may find cool images from stock photos that will “brand” their site in an exciting way. I coordinate all of these pieces for your child — I have a team of graphic artists and web designers I work with to meet these design needs.

Program Logistics

Location

I meet students at the “Savvy Young Writers Studio” — an area in my home in Menlo Park designated for my work with students. Looking out onto a beautiful garden and fully feng-shue’d, many thoughtful touches have been made to make the Studio a quiet and inspiring space for students to work.

Cost

The program cost is $500/mo for 12 months.

Program with a blog:

Questions? Or, interested in getting started?

The best way to start is to fill out the form below. I will read what you write carefully and then contact you to set up a time to talk. Or, if you prefer, you can set up a call with me directly through my online scheduler here.