Writing Resources Archives

10 Great Resources for Young Writers

It isn’t always easy for young writers to find places to submit their work, so we've collected together competitions, magazines and online publications to which teenage writers (and tween writers) can submit their poetry and short fiction. A fun fact: young writers at the Centauri Arts Academy have been published in many of these places, and have also been short-listed for several of these awards! Young Voices Magazine This is an annual magazine published by the Toronto Public Library. They accept creative writing and art by writers aged 12-19. You can submit your work at any time but submission deadlines fall in March each year. https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/teens/young-voices.jsp Stone Soup Magazine This is a fabulous magazine 100% written and illustrated by kids aged 6-13. Read their [...]

August 1st, 2024|Academy, Writing Resources|

Read Books by Centauri-Connected Authors!

Over the years, Centauri Arts has worked with dozens of authors. Many of them have taught for us, offered guest classes, or advised our young writers. Others are parents who have sent their kids to our overnight arts camp – or writers who attended our programs as children. Here’s a selection of poets, children’s writers, novelists and writers of creative non fiction you may wish to check out, all of them with Centauri connections: Vikki Van Sickle Vikki writes for children, and lives in Toronto. She offers occasional guest classes with Centauri and taught for our summer writing camps in 2023. Check out Vikki's Book on Amazon.ca Laura Farina Laura taught at our writing camps for many years. She has written poetry collections, picture [...]

July 19th, 2024|Academy, books, Writing Resources|

Why Do We Write??

Our ‘Short Story Creation’ camp is now well underway at the Centauri Arts Academy! We began by asking ourselves why we write, and the ‘tools’ we use to inspire our creative writing. All campers created statements exploring the reasons why they write, and used these to create a personal list poem in which every line began “I write with…”. Writers shared their favourite lines with a partner, who also helped them edit the lines for maximum impact. Finally, each writer submitted their favourite line, and these were combined to form a collaborative poem entitled: We Write With… Here is the result – which demonstrates the talent and wisdom of this incredible group of young writers: We Write With… A collective writing piece from the "How [...]

July 10th, 2024|Writing Classes for Teens, Writing Resources|

Tips for Young Writers

Are you the parent of a child or teenager who loves to write? Here are some tips to help young writers keep the words flowing… Read, read and then read some more! Read widely. Fiction and nonfiction. Poetry and prose. The more they read, the more fodder they will have to help them develop a voice of their own. Encourage your writer to write for at least a 15 minute block of time each day. To find a prompt, they can simply open a novel randomly, allow their eyes to skim over the page until they settle on an interesting phrase, and write from there. The aim isn’t to produce good literature; first drafts are never ‘good’. The aim is to get creative, once per [...]

December 14th, 2023|Academy, Writing Advice, Writing Resources|

Top Five FREE and Open Source Software Tools for Creative Writing

Google Docs! Tech Radar voted Google Docs the BEST free software for authors and poets – which is great news, since this writing software is likely the one most of us already use! https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/ Focus Writer is a great software tool for creative writers because it is designed to take away the distractions you do not need – all the traditional features of word processing software that you do not need if you are writing a novel, poetry or short stories. You see no tools or windows – just your text. If you’re easily distracted when you write fiction, this might be just the thing for you: https://focuswriter.en.softonic.com/?ex=DINS-635.2 Write Monkey also allows you to remove screen distractions and is terrific for creative writing (novels, poetry, [...]

May 4th, 2023|Academy, Resources, Writing Advice, Writing Resources|

Young Writers and Artists: Five Places to Send Your Work

If you are a young writer hoping to publish your creative writing, or a young artist looking for places to submit your work, here are five writing and art competitions you may want to check out: 1. Scholastic Magazine holds annual competitions for young artists and young writers. Check out their website for the submission details and annual deadlines: https://www.artandwriting.org/ 2. The New York Times Learning Centre has a number of writing and art awards open to high school-aged writers and artists. Check this site for their upcoming competitions, including creative writing awards, book review awards and student essays: https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/learning-contests 3. Toronto-based young writers and artists should also check out the Young Voices Magazine Published annually, this magazine for young writers and artists accepts submissions [...]

March 21st, 2023|Academy, Resources, Writing Advice, Writing Resources|

Historical Fiction Prompts for Writers

In our last blog, we looked at how online resources have transformed a writer's research process. So let's explore this idea with a creative writing prompt. Writing Prompt: Historical Fiction Write down a daily task or hobby that interests you. Now, choose a specific historic period and location. Come up with a close approximation of your interest that may fit with the period and location. Write down what you already think you know about that activity. Now, set a timer. Give yourself 15 minutes to research that specific activity online. Read everything you can about it. Look at illustrations. Become an expert in something very precise. An example for this writing prompt: Present day interest: racing cars Historic period/location: Roman Empire Approximation: Chariot racing; how [...]

January 23rd, 2023|Resources, Retreats, Writing Advice, Writing Prompts, Writing Resources, writing retreats|