The Hilliard Institute

The Hilliard Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation offering sensory education programing, experiential learning, and academic research and publishing while also supporting philanthropic initiatives through fundraising and educational training and activities—all under the umbrella of the concept of Educational Wellness. 

The Hilliard Institute. 4440 Savage Pointe Drive. Franklin, TN 37064

Email Dr. K. Mark Hilliard at mark.hilliardinstitute@gmail.com

or Professor Jessa R. Sexton at thehilliardpress@gmail.com.

13 Tips for Young Writers / Day Five: Creativity and Skill

July 14, 2019  /  Jessa Sexton

By Dr. K. Mark Hilliard

Day 5: Creativity and Skill

Writing is a bit of creativity and individual personality, mixed with a lot of skill and talent.

When your children write, they need some skill in understanding the various elements of writing style, but they must also have passion, emotion, and creativity in their thoughts about what is going to happen in their story.

Encourage your children to ask teachers, tutors, other students who can write, and you to help them with the skills part and look for books about how to write.

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Some important things to think about for your young writer:

  • Spell words correctly.

  • Use commas and other punctuation appropriately.

  • “Use quotation marks when someone is speaking,” said Dr. Hilliard.

  • Don’t overuse the same word throughout the story.

  • Don’t change narrators in the middle of the story (unless you mean to).

  • Don’t switch around verb tense. Keep the story in present tense or past tense.

    • Dr. Hilliard writes on his back porch with a cup of tea every day. (present)

    • Dr. Hilliard wrote this blog post on his back porch yesterday. (past)

  • Do not over-explain things or tell the same thing multiple times.

  • Don’t use too many adverbs or adjectives.


There aren’t a lot of books for young writers about the craft, but we’re working on one! We’ll share more about that soon.

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