Proof that God has a sense of humor: I have a child who at age 10 thinks computational fluid dynamics is a cool concept. This same child can fall into a complete meltdown when asked to write a paragraph. Since I am learning to choose my battles carefully, teaching my reluctant writer has necessitated some, ahem, creative encouragement.

Try these tips to free your child’s inner Shakespeare:

• Let your child start a blog. Free sites such as Blogger and WordPress make blogging easy. Settings can be made private, so you control who has access to your child’s work. Blogging gives children an informal medium for written work and comments from friends and family provide instant encouragement.

• At the end of the year, publish your child’s blog in book form. The book can be as simple as pages printed at home and placed in a binder. Publishing sites such as Blurb, make it easy to print books at low cost, especially if you only include text entries.

• Write essays for fun and profit – or at least as contest entries. My son can get motivated to write a 200 word descriptive essay in no time at all when he is entering to win a Lego gift certificate. He has yet to win, but he isn’t deterred. Search online for contests that pique your child’s interest. Organizations and businesses from AAA to your local deli frequently sponsor contests with specific criteria for essays. (Prompted writing? Nah, let’s not call it that.)

• Let the words support the pictures. If your child is more motivated to draw than write, let him create a graphic novel. (We called them comic books when we were kids.)Your child may prefer to create his own or you can use blank versions found online at minimal cost.

• Challenge your child to keep a journal, describing something – anything – that happened the day before, but without specific requirements for the entry. Some experiences are best told in picture form, some require only a sentence or two and some may lead to a flow of words.

• Promote your child to author. Allow your child to choose a high-interest topic that lends itself to a good book. The youngest students may only have a sentence per page, with older children working up to chapter books. Work with your child to create a bound book, complete with dedication and an “about the author” page. Type (or have your child type) the manuscript and allow your child to illustrate each page or chapter. Bind the books simply at home with a scrapbook paper cover or paste the text and illustrations in a blank bound book.

Chris Worthy is mom to Caroline (15) and Nolan (10) and will soon celebrate 20 years of marriage to her favorite person, John. Chris practiced law before becoming a writer and stay-at-home mother more than 10 years ago. She enjoys cooking, crafting, spoiling dogs, green living and rummaging though old books. Follow along at www.chrisworthy.com