Tips For Encouraging Your Teen To Enter Poetry Competitions
If you have a teenager who writes poetry, you might have noticed that he or she is shy about his or her work. This is due to the fact that he or she is worried that he or she might not be any good or that people are going to make fun of them for writing poetry. They might not even let you read it. This could cause him or her to eventually stop writing poetry. However, you can reinforce your child's talents by encouraging him or her to get some positive feedback in the form of a poetry contest. Here are some tips for encouraging your shy teen to enter poetry contests for teenagers.
1. Teach Your Child What a Pseudonym Is
The first thing that you want to do is teach your child what a pseudonym is. You can bring up examples of famous people who wrote under pseudonyms, including Stephen King and J. K. Rowling and have a discussion as to why those people would choose to do so. This will allow you to show your teen that he or she can still try to get his or her work published by entering poetry competitions and keep his or her anonymity. Anonymity and fitting in tends to be important to teenagers, so this will come as a comfort.
Make a game of helping your child pick a pseudonym, and then have him or her enter contests that are exclusively for publication (where the only prize is that you get your work published). You want to use your real name for contests with money, however, so that they can make the check out to the right name.
2. Build Confidence and Enter Regular Poetry Competitions
Finally, after your child has gotten his or her work published in a few magazines or online, you can have him or her start to enter regular poetry competitions under his or her own name. These will give your child the chance to get paid for his or her talent. If your child is still nervous about being found out and made fun of, consider having your child include the pen name with his or her submission to publish the poem, if he or she wins. This will still allow your child to keep his or her anonymity.
For more information, talk to a company that specializes in holding poetry competitions for middle schoolers and high schoolers.
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