So if your child has the writing bug, here are some things by Helene Goldnadel to do.
1) Take them shopping for notebooks just because you think they might need one or two.
All writers need notebooks and paper. Remember the more colorful and interesting the cover, the more inspired the child writer can be.
2) Give them a box to put all their notebooks in.
Let them know that this is their box and not yours. Tell other children that reading anything in their is punishable by a week of grounding. Don't hesitate to buy more boxes as needed. This prevents children from going through their work to lighten their load.
3) Only read when asked. Never read over their shoulders.
There is nothing worse than someone taking snatches of your writing out of context. For that reason, stay away until invited. An invitation to read a budding writer's work is worth a million snatches of words.
4) Take them to author events and buy them books from these real life authors.
The key here is to buy the books. If the child just goes to see the author, it won't last as an inspiration. Get the writer to sign something special.
5) Never push your child away with thoughtless comments or critiques of their work. Just don't do it and also don't correct grammar and punctuation. They expect that from their teachers, not from their parents.
6) Buy writing books for children and leave them on the bookshelf.
The key here is to be shy about your support of your writer. It's not broadcast news. It's hidden parental pride and children can feel that.
Much is made about the first six years of a child's life. I've looked into this in detail. Most people can't remember their first six years of life in particular but if you ask a happy child about their early life, they smile and laugh. The sliver of memory they hold is emotional and that's why it is important. So they will feel parental pride, not to worry.
7) Read to child writers. Always give them more to aspire to so they keep going.
8) Share your observations about people with your child writer.
My dad did this with me. He told me once that a man walks on the outside of a woman like the old days if she's taken. He pointed out one couple after another like this and those that wouldn't last. I know it seems silly that such a thing is a memory for me but honestly, it pointed me in the right direction to watch human interaction.
9) Watch old movies together.
This encourages your child writer to give up his or her work and spend some time with you. Do the same thing. Point out observations as you go through.
10) Respect your child writer.
There is nothing better than respect. Here's how it works. Say you are an Rocket Scientist. You have your thing and your child has his or her thing. Yours involves rockets. His or hers involves words. You cannot compare. To do so is to act without respect. So keep that in mind and negotiate the potential land mines by simply ignoring them. He does this and I do that. It's a match.
11) Realize that your child writer needs you just as much as your child that isn't a child writer. Closeness builds self-esteem.
