1.Posted by Barbara the Wednesday 17 April 2013 at 01:12
gill While I'm sure that your child is quite gifted, to my kgwloedne not even the icons of Science Fiction published at 13. Unless you truly believe s/he is a prodigy beyond the likes of Asimov, Clark, Card, Bradbury and Heinlein, s/he is not ready to be published. Have him/r join a writer's group in your area. Make sure the group is mostly serious writers who really edit each other's work. Many of these groups don't know how to edit so be careful. Have your budding author read some of the better writing books( On Writing by Stephen King) and own a Strunk & White. Elements of writing is no longer taught in the United States until 3rd year of College so it's important for them to pick it up on their own. They should know how to punctuate correctly and how to conjugate verbs; how to tell the difference between past tense and past perfect tense. Not everyone has these skills, but not having them means a significantly lower chance of being published. It's a great deal to take in, but it's what one needs to have a shot at getting this prize. As I said in the beginning, unless your 13 year old is a prodigy to leave the great writers of speculative fiction flapping in the wind, they have some work ahead of them.