This is the Brave Writer Podcast.

I'm Julie Bogart.

Today you're listening to another tea with Julie.

Today we continue our series on the forces of enchantment.

This time, we're looking at the idea of emotional safety

for writing risks.

I hope you'll stay tuned. Some writing programs don't address the key condition needed to take risks in writing, emotional safety.

That's why writing a diary or a journal

has been popular for centuries.

The tradition of daily writing away from readers allows people to discover their own thoughts,

externalize their feelings, and process what happens to them.

In our educator hunger to create writers of our children,

sometimes we skip the step that allows them to write without our prying eyes. Growing a risk-taker. One way to grow

brave writers then is to create a weekly writing routine where you and your children freely write,

knowing no one will read the writing, a completely protected space

that gives your kids a chance to risk externalizing their thoughts

without fear of criticism. Whether silly poop jokes or rebellious thoughts about homeschool or their sensitivity to a

social issue. When a child expects writing to be read by a parent, a child likely self- edits while writing.

Access to an original thought, particularly one that carries risk is shuttered.

That's why sometimes you'll ask a child to write what they just said

aloud to you and suddenly the mind goes blank.

Your child tells you I can't think of anything to say. Because now,

...