I’m a book editor and at one time I was the in-house editor for both the O’Henry Short Story Awards and the Pushcart Prizes at Doubleday and Simon & Schuster. A boarding school education is perfect for writers because the amount and rigor of critical reading and writing is on a whole different level than most public schools. Fiction writers do not need to major in any specific subject - any liberal arts major will do. Less than 10% of writers make their living off writing so it helps to develop expertise in a subject that you can also write about or get an MFA if you are going to teach. In high school write every day and read as much as possible. You need good sentences in your ears. Writing is a craft and you need to be disciplined and put in the hours. Finding a community can be very helpful- there are wonderful precollege writing programs for high schoolers. Working on the high school literary magazine or creating a writing workshop with your friends can be fun. Its important not to be too critical of your writing at this age - they get that in class. Write for fun and don’t worry about coaches or the end product at this stage. Good writers rarely end up where they intended and it is very important to be open to that part of the process. Turning this into a job or career before college is not necessary or helpful to her development of her voice. She needs the space to try on many different hats now.
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