Until we meet at THE 2011 Teen Writers Conference, here are a few resources to help you create your story worlds and/or to get writing . . .
- An excellent blog, called Scribbling Teens, offers writing prompts and other links for teen writers. Visit it first for great inspiration by author Nancy C. Allen (9 novels published).
- StoryWrite.com is a community of writers (all ages). If you are under 14, you need your parents' permission to sign up. (Do know that some publishers will not publish anything that has appeared online first. You could use StoryWrite to post only your free-writing sessions, not your stories or books you want to get published.)
- BookEnds Literary Agency offers a dictionary of publishing terms. This will help you become more familiar with words that professional publishers and writers use!
- Merlyn’s Pen: SINCE 1985, Merlyn's Pen has supported creativity, critical thinking, and writing. Its most public service since 2001 has been the New Library of Young Adult Writing, which showcases outstanding works of fiction and nonfiction authored by America's teens, grades 6-12.
- Teen Ink: Teen Ink is a national teen magazine, book series, and website devoted entirely to teenage writing and art. Distributed through classrooms by English teachers, Creative Writing teachers, Journalism teachers and art teachers around the country, Teen Ink magazine offers some of the most thoughtful and creative work generated by teens and has the largest distribution of any publication of its kind. We have no staff writers or artists; we depend completely on submissions from teenagers nationwide for our content.We offer teenagers the opportunity to publish their creative work and opinions on the issues that affect their lives - everything from love and family to teen smoking and community service. Hundreds of thousands of students have submitted their work to us and we have published more than 25,000 teens since 1989.
- The Alliance for Young Artists and WritersThe Alliance for Young Artists & Writers tracks the creative development of more than a quarter of a million teenagers across the country. The Alliance's program goals are: 1) Engage a broad cross section of American teenagers to identify creative potential and to showcase a high level ofachievement. 2) Develop programs that enrich the creative journey for young artists and writers. 3) Serve as a source of information for organizations and individuals who wish to support the creative development of our nation's teenagers. The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers has information for writing scholarships.
- The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target Stores and in cooperation with affiliate state centers for the book, invites readers in grades 4 through 12 to enter Letters About Literature, a national reading-writing contest. To enter, readers write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre - fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic - explaining how that author's work changed the student's way of thinking about the world or themselves. There are three competition levels: Level I for children in grades 4 through 6; Level II for grades 7 and 8, and Level III, grades 9 - 12. Winners, announced in the spring of each year, receive cash awards at the national and state levels. For information contact the LAL Project Director at lal@epix.net, phone/fax: 570-675-3305.
- Writers Digest 101 best websites for writers Offers and e-zine for teens.
- National Kids-in-Print Book Contest for Students, sponsored by Landmark House. Originally the brainchild of author David Melton, the “Written and Illustrated by” competition is open to students in three age categories: 1) Ages 6 to 9 2) Ages 10 to 13 3) Ages 14 to 19.
- Optimist International Essay Contest
(As always, we at TeenWritersConference.com do not control the information nor the content on any offsite links.)
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