I have recently had the pleasure of corresponding with an extremely gifted 13-year-old relative of one of my in-laws. This child spends all her free time writing and has produced two novel-sized works, among countless smaller fan-fiction and short stories. Her vocabulary is sophisticated (college level, IMHO), dialogue is well-written, and plots are age-appropriate. I’ve exchanged short stories with her for critique, but I think corresponding with same-age writers would be more beneficial and appropriate. I don’t plan to stop the correspondence, but I would like to see this almost painfully gifted young writer meet with others in the same category. She has never even met another child with the same interests.
I’ve suggested that she ask around the school she attends (gifted education teachers, high school English department, etc.) to see if she could start or join a writer’s group. However, because of the environment she is in, I fear these avenues would prove fruitless.
Any of you Dopers out there know of any real-life or online groups that enable networking for young writers? My sort-of relative is computer literate and online, so that wouldn’t be a problem… Ideas?