The Family That Writes Together......

The kids are right into computers and their sports, mum has a great small business which needs a bigger audience, dad has been tracing his family tree, uncle Bob is a motorcycle fanatic whose knowledge would fill an encyclopedia, and granny’s recipes are so good the world should know about them.

As such, they have the requirements to be published on the internet. Just as each person has a very different need, each of them could nurture their interest by writing about them – at a level appropriate to their age and the topic – and publishing their writing on their own website. 

While perhaps none of them has any experience in building a website, modern and very user-friendly software packages, can have them all managing their internet presence in no time.

The design and complexity of your website will be dictated by the webmaster.  There might be only five of granny’s recipes online initially, but adding to these and including photos, is managed with a click of a ‘publish’ button.  Starting small and growing as your skills do is a great way to learn website development.

Creative writers could add stories about granny, her life, and her cooking methods and tools – what a great way of preserving her legacy!

The kids have probably picked up a few computer and internet skills at school, and many will have left their parents behind in this area. The internet is a fantastic way to foster creative writing in children and having a massive audience for their published work can only encourage them further.

It is really important for parents to stay in touch with any internet activity in which their children are engaged, and learning the steps in website creation, and actually creating your own site, is a great way to start.  And it’s not a bad way to work on a project together with your kids – sharing quality time in the 21st Century!

With the current crop of website building programs there is no need for any html knowledge.  All data that you put on your site is typed in as you would using a word processor (typing is a great skill for any aspiring writer to master).  This is known as WYSIWIG (what you see is what you get), and all the html happens in the background.

Building family websites is a great 21st century way of staying in touch with your kids, and with everyone writing for the internet, it gives you an opportunity to discuss one another's writing projects.  

Enjoy your internet building bonding sessions!