hile some teens naturally flow words onto paper, others may struggle. Squires will help any teen writer focus his thinking, find the right words, and assemble them beautifully. The course begins with lessons about developing personal disciplines, brainstorming and organizing ideas, and synthesizing ideas.

We’ll learn the art of personal narratives, reviews, and persuasive and technical writing. Because substance and excellence are critical, units one and two are framed with lessons on research, credibility, and self-editing.

Each lesson develops skills, interest, and confidence, so your teen will look forward to exploring the world of writing ... and find growing success.

In units three and four your teen writer will begin to soar, with all kinds of lessons that can lead to publication. While poetry can intimidate even the bravest writer, we examine the art in three confidence-building lessons that will help your teen use powerful language in all his or her writing.

We break the art of fiction into fascinating studies of characterization, dialogue, plot, and point of view — so storytelling becomes a natural.

Most writers dream of publication. Lessons also show how to transform ideas into publishable ones, how to write for contests, book compilations, and magazines — and present material to an editor. Lessons on drama, speeches, and book-writing round out the course.

UNIT ONE

1. So You Want to Be a Writer  

What stories do you have inside you? Writing what you believe, can change the world. But writing effectively takes discipline. We’ll help you plan writing goals, identify obstacles, reinforce your commitment, and then follow through.

2. Reasons for Writing  

We write not just to express ourselves, but also to connect with readers. We’ll help you understand how focusing on your purpose for writing — whether to express, to explain, to encourage, to entertain, or to affect — can help you accomplish that goal.

3. The Right Words at the Right Time  

You wouldn’t wear a tuxedo to wash a car or wear your grubbies to a banquet. Likewise when you write, your vocabulary and style need to fit the occasion. We’ll help you analyze your audience — and guide you in tuning up your sentences.

4. Writing Throughout the Curriculum  

Your English teacher expects one style of writing; your science teacher, another. No matter the subject, you’ll find guidance on how to understand the purpose, master the vocabulary, and adapt to different writing expectations. You’ll also learn a flexible model to help you effectively present and support ideas.

5. Your Personal Writing Sample  

Are you outgoing? Analytical? Organized? This lesson examines how your personality affects your writing strengths — and offers guidance on how you can make the most of those strengths as you approach different types of writing.

6. A Perfect Couple: Reading and Writing  

The more you read, the better you’ll be at recognizing technique — and producing good writing yourself. We offer guidance on classic books worth exploring — and how to analyze and appreciate what they contain.

7. Keeping a Reading and Writing Log

Ideas for writing are everywhere. It’s just a matter of finding and keeping track of them. This lesson introduces great tools to exercise your writing muscles: reading logs, writing journals, and writing logs — as well as three tools for generating ideas.

8. Variety Is the Spice of Writing  

Turn a kaleidoscope a little, and the whole image changes. Sentences work the same way. You’ll learn how to structure sentences to reflect your style, communicate clearly, and hold readers’ attention throughout a story, essay, or article.

9. Writing a Technical or Explanatory Paper  

Every gadget comes with a brochure or manual; hundreds of guidebooks offer easy instructions for complex procedures; magazines print how-to articles on every topic. Even if you don’t plan to be a technical writer, we’ll help you get your facts straight and explain procedures clearly.

10. The Power of Story  

UNIT THREE

21. Iambic What? Elements of Poetry, Part 1  

Learning to read and write the concentrated language of poetry can make you a stronger writer as you learn to make every word count. This introductory lesson focuses on poetry’s basic form, including rhythm and rhyme.

22. Iambic What? Elements of Poetry, Part 2  

There’s more to poetry than counting syllables and creating rhyme. Once you understand its form, you can create word pictures for the reader though vivid, figurative language.

23. Roses Aren’t Always Red: Poetry Analysis  

When journalists want to know something, they ask who, what, when, where, why, and how. To write and appreciate poetry, you can ask the same questions and get to the bottom of what a poem means.

24. Whose Eyeglasses? Point of View A writer can present a story from different narrators’ viewpoints. We examine the advantages and drawbacks of using first-person, third-person, and omniscient points of view — and how to avoid problems that confuse readers.

25. Creating Believable Characters  

How do you know what a character will do? A good writer builds his characters (even the bad guys) from the feet up and the inside out. This lesson shows how to do that — and how to show personality through action and dialogue.

26. He Said, She Said: Creating Dialogue  

One of your most versatile tools, dialogue can establish conflict, move the plot, increase tension, develop characters, add emotional depth, reveal prior events, and clarify situations. We introduce ways to create effective dialogue.

27. The Plot Thickens: Story Structure

A good story grabs readers, keeps their attention, and provides a satisfying resolution. We’ll study the elements of classic plot structure, as well as some fun formulas that can inspire story ideas.

28. Getting to Know You: Interviewing and Writing a Profile  

Some of your best stories may come from other people. But that means learning to conduct an effective interview, then weaving that information into a compelling presentation. This lesson gives important tips and techniques for both.

29. Contests and Compilations  

Some of the best ways to get published when you’re starting out is through writing contests and book compilations. But not all contests and compilations are legitimate, so we guide you to find the right ones.  

30. Where Does Your Idea Fit?  

A writer can have a great idea but fail to recognize what to do with it. Often ideas need work to fit a magazine or publisher’s needs. We’ll help you develop an idea, customize it, and find the right home.  

UNIT FOUR

31. The Welcoming World of Magazines

An excellent way to get published — and reach a huge audience — is by writing for magazines. We’ll introduce you to the advantages of this place where you can hone your craft, make publishing contacts, and build a writing portfolio.

32. Writing an Effective Query Letter

A good writer learns to be a good marketer. To place an article with a magazine, you need to be able to pitch your idea. This lesson will help you craft a query letter that informs the editor about your article’s merits. 

33. Literary Terminology: The Writer’s Palette  

Choosing just the right word or phrase is like an artist selecting the perfect color. We’ll focus on techniques that add color, dimension, detail, depth, and perspective as you craft vivid word pictures.  

34. The Writer’s Workout  

Get ready to sweat. Before you begin writing, try warming up your imagination and creativity. We’ll start with exercises to help you prepare. Then to grow your writing skills, we offer a series of verbal stretches, calisthenics, weight training, and cardiovascular techniques

35. The Play’s the Thing: Reading and Writing Drama  

You may not realize it, but you’ve already assimilated the basic elements of scriptwriting from years of dramatized stories on film, television, and at school. We’ll help you learn the elements and techniques of this fun, fast-paced format.

36. Forensics  

You’ve learned how to write for a reader. But writing for listeners requires its own skills. As we consider monologues, dialogues, speeches, and debates, you’ll learn the elements of writing for the ear.

37. So You Want to Write a Book?  

Writing a book and getting it published are two entirely different tasks. This lesson gives the cold, hard facts of publishing — as well as encouraging news for new writers wanting to test the publishing waters.

38. Writing a Solid Book Proposal  

A good book is preceded by a good book proposal — the formal manner for presenting an idea to a publisher. We introduce you to the many detailed elements a publisher needs to consider when deciding whether to accept your book. 

39. Writers on Writing  

Rub shoulders with the experts. In this lesson, well-known writers such as Jerry B. Jenkins, Robin Jones Gunn, Bill Myers, and Angela Hunt share about their writing life — to inspire you to develop yours!

40. Known by Our Words  

How should the words we write align with the Word of God? What does it mean to write in a way that pleases the Lord? Our final lesson examines the marks of a professional Christian writer.