3 Reasons Why Your Children Need Writing Mentors.

If it rained until it was pitch dark, how will you walk back home without any form of lights? We may all know the direction to our homes. However, if it is pitch dark and there are no lights; we are likely to face fear or risk our way home.

This is exactly how our children feel when they fall in love with writing but don’t have any idea, how to be the writer they want to be in the future.

A writing mentor is like a torch bearer who comes along in your journey to flash lights to lead you home safely.

In 2017, I published my first memoir titled, My Mayor. The Political Story of Poor Elite and a Rich Illiterate; after I had failed in my electoral bid to be the Mayor of Gulu and a childhood friend with a distinguished career reached out and asked me to mentor her to publish a book.

Of course, I accepted. This in my mind was an endorsement of my works at a time when I was still recovering from rejection by electorates.

Over the years, we would have face to face irregular sessions and eventually virtual meetings to guide the mentorship process.

After 5 years, we have partnered in publishing a collection of poems titled, UNSAID WORDS: Poetic Letters.

This has been my first experience in a formal Mentorship. Now, I have graduated from mentoring individuals to mentoring groups of young writers under the program, Author Aliker’s Mentorship Program.

So why should you enroll your children into a Writers Mentorship Program?

To begin with, we need to define a writing mentor. A writing mentor is an experienced writer who is open to sharing his knowledge with aspiring writers.

A writing mentor can be an invaluable resource to an aspiring writer. A writing mentor will inspire writers and offer professional guidance on becoming a professional writer.

Self-made writers have to make so much mistakes, risk many things that includies quitting writing when the process gets tough but a writing mentor inspires writers to enjoy and appreciate the process.

A writing mentor holds aspiring writers accountable to their writing goals. Over the years, I have never failed to inquire how far my mentee has gone with getting published.

To hold my mentee accountable, we had to agree on working together to get her first book published. Now, not only is our collection of poems getting published next month; but also, her personal works is ready for publishing after being held accountable for 5 years.

A writing mentor also offers insightful and customized professional feedback that helps an aspiring writer to find her voice and learn her strengths and weakness; opening them up for future growth.

Many times, we receive feedback from family and friends who already love us and are obligated to be nice to us especially from online platforms and meetings.

A writing mentor offers technical advice that may be critical to an aspiring writer’s work with the intention of making them write better by offering detailed insights of her work.

A writing mentor may also introduce aspiring writers to professional platforms in the writing industry for self-growth and further learning.

This could be publishing houses or online forums or physical groups that carriers out group mentorship programs for continuous growth.

Conclusively, many times our children express their aspirations in different ways. Sometimes as parents, we observe their passions geared towards writing.

Enrolling your children in a writer’s mentorship program is playing safe instead of allowing them to wallow in the dark; risking whatever writing tragedies may come her way. This could jeopardize her talent and career growth because we never made the effort to play safe with a writing mentor.

The Blogger (Aliker p’Ocitti)  is a Writing Mentor with 3 published works.

My Mayor. The Political Campaign Story of a Poor Elite and Rich Illiterate (Memoir)

Hidden Scars (A collection of Poems)

Unsaid Words: Poetic Letters by Aliker p’Ocitti & Laker Winifred L.