Starting A Club

At it's core, Writing Club Network is meant to be bent and manipulated to serve any need! However, for simplicity, there is a recommended order for lessons and a style of teaching them, as well as to who. Please keep in mind that these aren't rules, rather suggestions for those who might need guidance.

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1st Step: Beginning

You need to know where your club is going to be based! Will it be at your school or a local library? After you've decided that, make sure that you have your mentor or supervisor. If you're an adult, you're probably looking at becoming a supervisor for a writing club, but if you're a young writer reading this, make sure you have an adult to help you!

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2nd Step: Planning

Plan your club. Take a look at the materials provided on this website. Will you use all of them, or only some of them? How are you going to divide them up? Will you do weekly club meetings and do one lesson a week? Will the club meet after school or on the weekend? Make the right choices for the environment you're trying to set up in, and when in doubt—seek out more people to help you!

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3rd Step: Recruitment

You've started your club; now all you need are some members. Put posters up on the doors to your school and make announcements online. Does your school have a monthly newsletter? Talk to the principal and try to get your club onto it! Is the library willing to talk about your club to young writers who come in - ask if they might! Text your friends and try to use word of mouth. Anything works if you have even one young writer join!​

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4th Step: Starting

What will your first club meeting be like? We recommend some ice breakers! Getting to know the members within the club will make sure that all young writers are ready and willing to work with each other. It will also create a more interconnected writing community, which is what we strive for! You can never have too many writer friends!

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5th Step: Continuation:

As time wears on, you'll see who's truly benefitting from your club! Make sure to keep things interesting by keeping everyone on their toes. Will you use our lessons, or will you take a quick field trip down to the library to check out some craft books? If you ever find yourself and your club in a hard place, repeat these steps in any order. You might need to replan some things or recruit some new members. Whatever you end up making, have fun with it! Remember—you are the writer to your own story! 

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Our final suggestions:

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• Start clubs in schools and libraries, primarily servicing writers aged 12 to 18, or 6th to 12th grade.

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• Use these lessons in the order displayed in, as many interconnect.

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• Encourage writers to submit to our literary journal, YoungPages, to gain experience in submissions.

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• Teach lessons in the way described in Introduction materials

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• Read all Introduction materials to get a feel of the resources provided

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• Familiarize yourself with our website, as it is the main form of learning

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• And subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates, more prompts for club, writing tips from another young writer, and more!