At Written Out Loud, we believe that forcing a child to write is the quickest way to get them to dislike it. We begin by inspiring a child to speak...to tell stories out loud, starting with the ones they know by heart (think Harry Potter, Marvel, even video games). The child's spoken voice acts as a scaffolding: a platform upon which an organic desire to write can be built. We see it time and time again: our practice of small-group, out-loud storytelling inspires the best kind of writing: the kind your child can fall in love with.

We provide virtual group storytelling programs for children ages 7-17. During the school year, our after-school programs are usually scheduled on weekday afternoons or evenings. We also offer Summer classes. Please feel free to email us at support@writtenoutloud.org if you have other questions.

Yes! Every one of our classes is open to children in EVERY U.S. and Canada time zone. Most of our classes contain kids from across the country, meeting together in the shared playspace of their imagination.

NOTE: PROGRAM TIMINGS ARE LISTED IN EASTERN TIME but they are open to families in ALL U.S. and Canada time zones. A class scheduled to meet Mondays at 4:30pm ET, also meets at 3:30pm CT, 2:30pm MT, 1:30pm PT, etc. PLEASE MAKE ALL NECESSARY TIME ZONE CALCULATIONS BEFORE PURCHASING.

Yes! You can register for the same class time and note the friend's name in the "crew preferences" section or you can gather a group of 4 to 6 and we can try to create your own class and timing. Reach out to us via support@writtenoutloud.org for details.

In short, yes, kind of. Our story directors are chosen for their passion, knowledge of writing and storytelling and for their ability to engage with and excite our storytellers. They will lead your child’s sessions and guide your child’s collaboration process. We don’t call our directors “teachers,” because our program is not a school; we don’t call our storytellers “students,” and we don’t consider our daily story missions to be “homework.” Our program is way more fun than school. We think your child will agree.

Yes. Our story directors have two traits in abundance: a passion for storytelling, and a keen antennae for a child’s needs. Every storytelling studio is filled with kids of all kinds: big talkers, loud laughers, and plenty of quieter kids, who love stories with a passion but don’t necessarily love talking quite as much. Our program is designed to put every storyteller in a position to create with confidence and joy. And our directors are trained to maintain the Balance of the Force inside every session: ensuring that the louder storytellers don’t dominate the environment, and making sure that the quieter storytellers find a path and process to find and develop their voice.

• One of the core values of Written Out Loud is introducing writing to young people as a joyful activity. When they start in the place of their inspirations - their favorite books, TV shows, and movies - kids WANT to write. The amount of actual writing time your child will do outside of the sessions will vary, but the good news - maybe the BEST news - is that they’ll WANT to write. It won’t feel like homework at all. Written Out Loud “Story Missions” feel like joyful play.

Written Out Loud makes no claim of ownership of the characters, ideas, or other intellectual properties created by storytellers in either the team storytelling or novel-writing classes.

Every author receives one complimentary paper copy of their work, either in the mail or at StoryCon. Additional copies are available for sale on lulu.com. For books co-authored in our team storytelling classes, lulu.com is the only platform currently available for additional purchasing. For books written in our Young and Adult Novelist programs, Written Out Loud will publish your book on Amazon, as well as other online booksellers for an administrative fee between $100 and $150. This is achieved through Lulu’s “Global Distribution” process. Important details about this process can be found here.

At Written Out Loud, we believe strongly that A.I. will belong to the storytellers. Not too long ago, many feared that a new technology called a “search engine” would turn us all lazy, and destroy our initiative to conduct research. Instead, the opposite happened: storytellers used the search engine tool to research more powerfully than ever before. Remember, a story’s purpose is to connect human beings meaningfully with each other. That desire to connect with other humans meaningfully will not be blunted or even dimmed by the advent of A.I. The more deeply we learn the craft of storytelling, the better we’ll become at crafting the kinds of meaningful connections we all need.

You can find a comprehensive parent guide with detailed information about our programs here.