Writing for Children and Teenagers is a highly effective, time-proven, home study course developed by the Institute of Children’s Literature. In fact, it goes beyond children’s literature and teaches creative writing for the teenage and young adult reader. 

The course is based on the fundamentals of all good writing and teaches you how to write, market, and sell fiction and nonfiction stories, articles, and the opening chapters of a book. 

This course is geared to publication.  Since 1969, more than 11,000 of the Institute’s students and graduates have been published.

The success of this home study course is due in large part to tutorial instruction, in which one nationally published writer is assigned to train one student for the duration of the course.  

This one-on-one relationship allows for great flexibility in tailoring the course to the particular needs and goals of each student, and the result is an unusually high degree of student satisfaction. 

An advanced creative writing course
for young students who qualify

Our course was developed for adults who want to write and sell their work to publishers of children’s and young adult material.  But a special adaptation of the course has also been very successful for the past 25 years among teenage writers who qualified for it by passing our aptitude test. 

This special course, the Gifted Young Writer’s Program, has its own faculty of nationally published writers who are handpicked for their ability to work effectively with promising young students.

In the words of their students, they are “awesome,” “phenomenal,”  and “amazing.”  “I love the way she always encourages me rather than puts me down.”  “The one-on-one relationship . . . gives me a sense that I am writing to an editor, but at the same time to a friend who wants to be honest and critical, with the goal of helping me to get better.”

Your personal instructor will guide you to your goal

If you qualify and decide to enroll, you’ll learn not simply how to write stories and articles; you’ll learn how to create the kind of professional manuscripts that editors are looking for—the kind they want to publish. 

Your instructor is deeply experienced in the ways of the literary marketplace, and he or she will develop an individual teaching plan for you to help you achieve your goals.  Whether it’s adventure, science fiction, fantasy, or any other genre, your instructor will guide you to your goal.

The flexibility and individuality of this course is reflected in the way the course is conducted:  You work at home, at your own pace, at the times that work best with your schedule.  Your instructor arranges his or her schedule to fit yours.

You can also earn college credits

This writing course is the only one of its kind qualified for college credits.

You can earn six college credits with the successful completion of this course, and you can use these credits no matter where you live. 

The Connecticut Board for State Academic Awards will arrange for you to obtain these credits from Charter Oak State College. For a modest fee, Charter Oak will send your credits, on its transcript, to any college or university you designate.

You train by writing manuscripts for publication

The most practical measure of success in writing is publication.  Therefore, after your autobiographical assignment, you begin writing for publication with your next assignment, and although it probably won’t be your best work, a surprising number of students who revised it according to their instructor’s suggestions have made it their first sale. 

Of the ten course assignments, seven are designed to be submitted for publication.

By the time you graduate, you’ll complete a major character study, a detailed descriptive sketch, professional query letters to editors (many editors will not look at a manuscript without one), and five stories or articles. You’ll also have the option of outlining a book and writing the opening chapters.

No matter which option you choose, you’ll get our firm promise:

You’ll complete at least one manuscript suitable for submission to an editor by the time you finish the course.

Greater achievement in school and college

Beyond the accomplishment of learning how to write for publication, your improved writing skills will serve you well for the rest of your life. 

Our students and graduates have found that their newly-acquired writing and researching skills, developed in our course, have measurably helped them to organize their ideas . . . accurately and vividly communicate  their thoughts . . . and use revision strategies to strengthen school and college papers.

Their school grades improve, as does their confidence in writing because of their expanded vocabulary, knowledge of proper grammar and punctuation, and skills in organizing and editing their own work. 

If you were to choose the one indispensable writing course, this would be it.

If this is the kind of course you’re looking for, please continue to review this website and see just how our program will work for you. 

Feel free to call us toll-free at (800) 243-9645 with any questions.  Or contact us by email: InformationServices@InstituteChildrensLit.com.

Free writing aptitude test and evaluation

The next step is to complete our free aptitude test.  It will tell you whether you are ready to take advantage of the superior training our course offers.  The test, and our evaluation of it, is free of any cost or obligation.