As a secondary school student, mastering creative writing can be extremely beneficial.
Creative writing trains you to more creative. It fuels your imagination, allows you to grasp writing concepts and even exposes you to a wider range of vocabulary.
Inevitably, it’ll help you score more marks in both English composition as well as Comprehension Exam sections.
However, it is not an easy skill to develop, especially if you are not really a creative writer by nature. One of the ways you can get guidance is via an English tutor. Alternatively, there are also plenty of online resources that can help you as a secondary school student to become an aspiring teen writer.
Below is a list of the most popular creative writing online tools, resources and communities you can sign up.
Online Tools to Help Teen Writers
If you want to learn how to do creative writing, you need to know all the various styles you can use. There are also elements that must be in your work to make it stand out. Online tools such as articles, guides, and podcasts are now very common online.
To get you started, here are some of the best online tools to boost your creative writing skills.
Pomegranate Words
Pomegranate Words is a special website that offers online lessons about poetry and creative writing. From the basic parts of poetry to how to develop your own plot; it’s available for free.
There are some parts, which are not up-to-date, but they do explain each subject in an easy-to-understand format.
SmileTutor
Choose your ideal 1-to-1 online english tutor from a huge database of over 50,000 online tutors in Singapore. Classes are extremely personalized and affordable as well. SmileTutor’s Online Tuition Rates start from $20/h.
Power Poetry
If you are a budding poet, taking part in Power Poetry should be in your list. This mobile group is open to all poets and allows members to share their poems online.
Membership is for free and must be more than 13 years old of age. The site also includes writing resources to help members improve on their craft, as well as a search database for local poetry groups.
Purdue OWL
Purdue OWL is a major institution when it comes to learning the MLA, APA and Chicago writing style. The site gives users a detailed guide on how these formats can be used, how to create bibliographies and what errors to avoid.
The site also has grammar articles, which you can use to improve how you write. There are even exercises available to help you with your spelling and other writing quirks.
Social Online Communities for Teen Writers
As a creative teen writer, you need to catch the attention of your readers with your work. Their criticism and suggestions can help you grow and adjust your work.
These social communities below can help you get started in bringing your work to the world.
Teen Ink
For writers ages 13 and 19, you can create an account at Teen Ink. The site is a special forum that allows users to submit fiction of all genres for others to read.
The forum is also divided into two parts: Regular Forums and Writer’s Workshops. Regular Forums allow members to talk about anything they want. Writer’s Workshops are the chat rooms where other writers can talk about your work.
The site also has a special website, book series and magazine which features select works of its members.
NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program
For writers, ages 18 and up, the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Young Writers Program is the most popular community online. National Novel Writing Month falls every November and within that month, members are challenged to write a novel draft within the month.
Aside from this challenge, the program also launched Camp NaNoWriMo, which happens every April and July. During the camp, writers are challenged to write small pieces.
For the rest of the year, small challenges are set up for writers to do. Signing up for the program is for free and can be done with your class. It also boasts a great library of resources to help you improve your writing style.
Write the World
If you want to reach out to a wider audience, Write the World allows writers ages 13 to 18 to reach their fellow writers around the globe. Contests are held monthly through writing prompts and it is free to join.
Aside from the contests, the site also allows writers to share their work and get comments from other writers.
Teachers can also use the website to create private groups for their classes to help connect the students online or in person.
Online Platforms for Teens to Publish Stories and Poems
If you want to share your work and get your work spotted by publications, there are platforms that allow this to happen. Here are some of them below:
Wattpad
Wattpad is most notably the largest writing platform available online. It has 65 million users and anyone ages 13 and up can register for free so long as they have an email address, Facebook or Google account.
Once the account is active, a user will be able to upload their work for others to read. As your work gets reviewed, liked and viewed, it will move up in the rankings and get a chance to have your work published or have it made into a movie. The platform even has regular writing contests and awards to increase your work’s ranking.
Underlined
Underlined was created in 2018 by Penguin Random House, a very popular publishing company. You can also share your work on the platform, but it does not have a system that allows reviews.
You will need to open an account to join the platform and once you do, you will be able to join the contests, quizzes and other events open for members.
There is also a forum available for members to share their stories and get comments from other users.
Storybird
For those who write stories that are family-friendly, Storybird is the place to join.
When you become a member of the site, you can share picture books, novels and poems inspired by the artwork for the day. Readers can review each work and there is also a resource page for those who are practising their writing.
Try Creative Writing Today
Creative writing is a great way to express yourself in ways you can’t normally do vocally. With these tools and sites above, we are sure that you will be able to explore the literary world easier and discover how your works can inspire others. Happy writing!
Want to improve creativity growth mindset? Refer to these tips for help:
Integrating Creativity with Today’s Learning Techniques
4 Ridiculously Easy Ways to Kick-Start Your Creativity & Produce Great Ideas
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