<![CDATA[DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing?]]>It’s good to have a target already when young.


Be warned though that being an author in Singapore is not easy.

First, what is the type of book(s) he is interested in writing? If it is fiction or non-fiction, and if he/you approach a local publisher, and if the publisher is interested, you are likely to be targeting the local market only. If the publisher has some regional exposure/presence, there might be some sales in the neighboring countries, like Malaysia. It’s not likely to go too far, as the publisher’s presence means a lot in the market, especially for fiction, which needs publicity to help it move. Singapore is a small market, so even if a book sells well, the potential is limited.

And if you are thinking of foreign, big-time publishers, the book proposal must be really good to get the attention needed.

If it is a non-fiction book, the author must be an authority in the book topic to give credibility. Else, it’s not likely to even get published.

This does sound bleak and discouraging, but there are also authors who became very rich in Singapore. Textbook authors are often very rich, especially those of compulsory subjects.

For fiction, you’re talking about one-time sale, and not too many people will be compelled to buy one, since there are so many books published throughout the world every month. But for compulsory textbooks, students have to buy them, and this is repeated every year till the school syllabus changes. And since Singapore has a good reputation for education, our textbooks do travel (unlike our local fiction). If the publisher has the reach and gets the textbooks into other countries, the income would be sizable.

So what do the authors do besides writing? If writing fiction, can try to write for newspapers or magazines. Plus maybe can take up freelance editing too.

If writing textbooks, the authors are mostly teachers to begin with.

Honestly not easy to be a full-time author in Singapore, but if it’s his dream, can support him to aim for it. But I’ll also ask him to keep an eye (and the mind) open in case one fine day, when he grows up/matures and realizes that author is tough job, he can still change his mind.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/topic/83911/ds-wants-to-be-an-author-tips-for-writingRSS for NodeSat, 02 May 2026 19:41:53 GMTWed, 11 Nov 2015 06:19:14 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Fri, 25 Sep 2015 04:53:14 GMT]]>faithfuldad123,


The above ideas from Jennifer and Ikid are great! In essence, if your ds wants to be a writer, don’t just depend on school compositions - too stifling! There are many types of writers (& writing styles) and he should expose himself to different interesting writing formats e.g. limericks, short stories, short novels, narrative styles, reporting styles, etc. There are so much he can learn.

Help him explore the world of writing by enrolling him at British Council, NLB or other commerical writing schools. Only when he learns the different writing formats can he decide for himself what he is good at and then develop his own style from there.

Perhaps when he grows up, he can be a successful travel writer, business/corporate writer, crime reporter, tech writer, food writer, advertising writing, or author of children books.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1583276https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1583276Fri, 25 Sep 2015 04:53:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Fri, 25 Sep 2015 03:34:03 GMT]]>Encourage him to take part in writing competition

https://thercs.org/youth/the-queens-com ... tion-2015/
or lookout for
National Library Board (NLB) organized writing workshop & competition.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1583245https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1583245Fri, 25 Sep 2015 03:34:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Thu, 24 Sep 2015 12:04:14 GMT]]>why waste energy in comparing oneself against another person?


It is just school compositions.

http://www.catherinekhoo.sg

My elder boy enrolled in this course when he was in pri sch.

Not sure whether your child will find it helpful.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582811https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582811Thu, 24 Sep 2015 12:04:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Thu, 24 Sep 2015 08:24:40 GMT]]>Honestly, you should try to nurture your DS dream because even if he can’t make it as an author, it will guarantee that he will have a strong command of language and great communication skills. That’s a fundamental requirement for any successful career.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582684https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582684Thu, 24 Sep 2015 08:24:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:43:19 GMT]]>

NerdyMath:
faithfuldad123:

Hello guys, DS has always wanted to be an author. His grades are decent, and he LOVES writing. The problem is, there is a boy in his class who is not at all interested in wirting, but scores very good. Everybody refers to him as the class author, and DS gets very disappointed because of that. At first, I was mad when I heard DS's dream- after all an author does not earn much money. But then I realised that as long as he was happy, I was okay. The boy is DS's rival. the boy just won an entire comp (writing) against 100 students from singapore, while DS did not even get shortlisted. DS is crestfallen and says that he is not a good writer. The boy will be called X for easy refrencing. X never scores below 37 for writing, and even got a 40 before. The thing is, I know it is not X's potential as X is very popular in school, and teachers like him. DS is very introvert, and teachers either frown or ignore him wen they see DS. Ds gets about 34-37, although he did score 39 before. What do you think I can do to encourage DS? Plus do you have any tips to improve on writing? :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy:


Same case for my DS. DS's classmate, which is is girl, gets 37-38 for every composition. When DS reads her compositions, he feels that the storyline is simple without any layers in it. Feels that teacher is a bit biased.

Exactly!! D's says that x story is not interesting at all and very unoriginal. But x got 38 while DS got.34. I think so too.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582641https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582641Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:43:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:42:00 GMT]]>

slmkhoo:
I have a child who also announced that she wanted to be a writer when she was around 6yo! Not sure if she is going to make it, but here are some of my thoughts. Budding authors need to develop a thick skin. They also have to realise that what is valued in school is sticking to the marking criteria, which often only recognise and reward orginality and creativity within certain set bounds. Remember that JK Rowling was rejected by many publishers before one finally decided to publish her books, and the rest is history. Of course, some aspiring writers will never make it, and that is a reality of life.


In the meanwhile, concentrate on improving all aspects of the craft - grammar, vocab, plot, characterisation etc etc. Getting lots of life experiences of different kinds is also important. Then one day, who knows?

Another thing to note - many writers have to earn their keep by doing other things while waiting for their big break, if it ever comes. It could be in other forms of writing such as journalism, advertising, technical report writing etc. Or it could be something completely other than writing. So it's good to bear in mind the need to develop other skills as well.
not only jk Rowling. Dr Seuss too. DS is extremely determined. Hut you leave some food for thought. I told him that he can be a journalist too and wrote part time.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582640https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582640Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:42:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:40:23 GMT]]>

lexis:
Slmkhoo has raised good points.


My views: even if you can write a good PSLE composition (37/40), it hardly means that you are going to go on to be a fantastic author. I roll my eyes at some of the compositions which are graded high 30s/40 - they may be grammatically correct and have loads of fancy phrases - but they are just not readable.

Encourage your son by letting him know that PSLE-exam grades are not the be-all and end-all of writing well. To widen his exposure to authoring, you can sign him up for workshops at the National Book Council. I have seen programmes where children are taught how to write a good story (in a storybook sense, not PSLE compo) and such courses are led by local authors.

Here's the link to their website:
http://bookcouncil.sg
true. DS. Writes very nice stories but it does not appeal to the markers he sent a book to the publishers and they seem interested.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582639https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582639Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:40:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:39:15 GMT]]>

devotededucator:
If ever your child gets into a writer's block, the use of pictures could help stimulate thought processes greatly. I showed my 7 year old a series of colourful, thought -provoking pictures and with each picture, asked her to write down as many words as possible that came to her mind. The idea was not to think too much but to just allow her thoughts to flow freely. After this exercise, she was more confident and was ready to start working on her story! PM me for more strategies!

D'S is very ocd when writing in new format. He feels a need to write using all three pictures. Basically all compos he write consists of all three pictures. Is it good? Plus, how shld D's write so that his writing will appeal to traditional and modern markers? ESP. Traditional markers.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582638https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582638Thu, 24 Sep 2015 06:39:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Thu, 24 Sep 2015 04:40:21 GMT]]>Slmkhoo has raised good points.


My views: even if you can write a good PSLE composition (37/40), it hardly means that you are going to go on to be a fantastic author. I roll my eyes at some of the compositions which are graded high 30s/40 - they may be grammatically correct and have loads of fancy phrases - but they are just not readable.

Encourage your son by letting him know that PSLE-exam grades are not the be-all and end-all of writing well. To widen his exposure to authoring, you can sign him up for workshops at the National Book Council. I have seen programmes where children are taught how to write a good story (in a storybook sense, not PSLE compo) and such courses are led by local authors.

Here's the link to their website:
http://bookcouncil.sg

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582600https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582600Thu, 24 Sep 2015 04:40:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Thu, 24 Sep 2015 02:31:33 GMT]]>I have a child who also announced that she wanted to be a writer when she was around 6yo! Not sure if she is going to make it, but here are some of my thoughts. Budding authors need to develop a thick skin. They also have to realise that what is valued in school is sticking to the marking criteria, which often only recognise and reward orginality and creativity within certain set bounds. Remember that JK Rowling was rejected by many publishers before one finally decided to publish her books, and the rest is history. Of course, some aspiring writers will never make it, and that is a reality of life.


In the meanwhile, concentrate on improving all aspects of the craft - grammar, vocab, plot, characterisation etc etc. Getting lots of life experiences of different kinds is also important. Then one day, who knows?

Another thing to note - many writers have to earn their keep by doing other things while waiting for their big break, if it ever comes. It could be in other forms of writing such as journalism, advertising, technical report writing etc. Or it could be something completely other than writing. So it’s good to bear in mind the need to develop other skills as well.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582505https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582505Thu, 24 Sep 2015 02:31:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to DS wants to be an author? Tips for writing? on Wed, 23 Sep 2015 14:57:17 GMT]]>

faithfuldad123:
Hello guys, DS has always wanted to be an author. His grades are decent, and he LOVES writing. The problem is, there is a boy in his class who is not at all interested in wirting, but scores very good. Everybody refers to him as the class author, and DS gets very disappointed because of that. At first, I was mad when I heard DS's dream- after all an author does not earn much money. But then I realised that as long as he was happy, I was okay. The boy is DS's rival. the boy just won an entire comp (writing) against 100 students from singapore, while DS did not even get shortlisted. DS is crestfallen and says that he is not a good writer. The boy will be called X for easy refrencing. X never scores below 37 for writing, and even got a 40 before. The thing is, I know it is not X's potential as X is very popular in school, and teachers like him. DS is very introvert, and teachers either frown or ignore him wen they see DS. Ds gets about 34-37, although he did score 39 before. What do you think I can do to encourage DS? Plus do you have any tips to improve on writing? :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy: :gloomy:

Same case for my DS. DS's classmate, which is is girl, gets 37-38 for every composition. When DS reads her compositions, he feels that the storyline is simple without any layers in it. Feels that teacher is a bit biased.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582341https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1582341Wed, 23 Sep 2015 14:57:17 GMT