As an author, I’ve met a lot of kids who don’t just enjoy reading my books but also tell me they are writing their own books. As a teacher, writer, and parent, this is exciting. What can we do to foster this interest of writing in our children?

The first and most obvious is to show our excitement. Congratulate them on the fact that they are writing or have written a book. Ask them questions about their book. If you are able to read their books, and they offer them up, by all means, do so.

When my son was in third grade, part of the weekly spelling word assignment was to write a story or a poem using the words. Instead of a couple of sentences, or the expected paragraph, each week he would fill the entire page with his creations. This led to his work often being…