Can you twist this around and read with her instead of writing? As others have said the best way to become a good writer is to read widely. Could you pick a book to read together, either aloud or separately and then talk about it, maybe watch the movie if there is one? I realize you may have different tastes in books 
but surely there are some middle grade/young adult sci-fi, fantasy, adventure books that would appeal to you both? And within a few years she’ll be reading adult books.
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No, nothing this extreme. The young lady could just ask AI to improve her writing and then try to learn from the AI version by comparing her original version to the refined AI version.
Ask your daughter 
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My first thought which has been mentioned above, is to buy a writing journal. My second thought (also mentioned) is to encourage reading and encourage different types of books.
You also might reach out to her English teacher for some ideas. The teacher could provide encouragement and may know of opportunities in the school or community.
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We alternated with my kids. They picked one (lots of graphic novels!) and then I picked one…. The best way to learn to love a genre is to actually read it! I thought I hated Sci Fi, but my kids would pick some of the classics… which are actually beautifully written with a lot of provocative ideas!
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Just be a good Dad. Take interest in what she writes. Read everything she writes. Reserve judgement. “Tell me about what you have written.” Ask questions. Support her with your presence. Be there when she has questions. Give her a hug.
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First off, I love how intentional you’re being about wanting to connect with your D. Just your D knowing the fact that you want to connect with her is going to help to build a strong relationship with her. Additionally, a parent’s relationship may not always show up the same way with different kids even if the relationship with each kid is strong.
In terms of some of her interests, I’m going to mention a few different possibilities just to get the wheels turning.
- Bike or workout (or drive to an errand) together while listening to K-Pop
- (I’m going to date myself here) Play Dance Dance Revolution or Wii or those VR headset games together…some may be dance and she may stomp you in the games, but they’re still a way to have fun together (and y’all can do some dance-related games and some non-dance related ones)
- In terms of artwork, maybe she might be painting independently, but you might try a paint-by-numbers thing if you want to spend time together. Or once in a while y’all go to a place to paint your own pottery or similar where it’s just a casual time to hang out together while doing something artsy and no great level of skill is expected of all parties.
- Watch her practice some dance moves and restart the music to whatever point she wants to if she’s trying to get a move right
- Just talk to her about her interests. You don’t have to participate in the activity or be knowledgeable about it to have these conversations. Who are her favorite K-Pop artists? Why? What did she think about a latest video or album? What is she watching/listening to? How did she find out about them? How do they compare to others that she’s liked before? (Same thing can happen for dance or painting or writing.)
I would not try and take the place of a mentor or guide in any of the activities if you’re not skilled at it. Just be honest and friendly. Hey, that looks awesome, how did you do that? Or, I’m trying to do this but am having a hard time. How would you do it? Or just do things and laugh about your relative ineptitude about something but you keep it fun and lighthearted because you get to do the activity with your D, even if she’s 100x better than you at it.
I don’t remember if others mentioned this, but in addition to getting her a solo journal, also get a joint journal…where she can write to you and then you can write back to her and there can be a type of written correspondence back and forth.
And I just saw @AnArmyAtDawn ‘s post and agree completely.
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Your post supports what I wrote: creative kids are creative in many ways. She has years ahead to explore each area, maybe focus on one, maybe connect them. I understand your desire to connect through an activity. Not sure how you can be a part of writing other than to read and appreciate. It is very thoughtful of you as a father. As she grows up, with your obvious desire to be a part of her life, I am sure you will find many ways. She is still quite young. She is lucky to have you!
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No to AI. As the parent of a young adult writer it’s a terrible terrible way to learn writing. It’s just a flat out awful suggestion.
Get the kid in writing camps. Help them develop relationships with human mentors. And read read read!
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In my opinion…everyone’s writing should be in their own voice. So…I also don’t advocate AI…because this young writer needs to write in her own voice. And really, that doesn’t have to be perfect. It needs to be who she is.
One of the best lessons a friend of mine taught about writing dealt with perspective and POV. She took three different newspaper articles about the same story…and had the kids compare and contrast. She also often had students write about the same topic, and then share their writings…showing how different writers can craft the same story in different ways.
I would talk to this young writer about what she wants to do. It’s very possible she just wants to write on her own. Or…she might want to learn to write something like poetry if she doesn’t do that already. She also needs to learn the differences between creative writing, and facts.
Fact is…most of us do not do creative writing. When was the last time someone where sat down and wrote some creative piece? My bet, not very often or many of you do that.
There ARE literary contests even for upper elementary and middle school students. Maybe she would like to do something like that.
Or maybe she just wants to write for herself.
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Another idea: write a comic together- you draw the stick figure dad in the story. Or you write your own she writes her own, but you do it at the same table together. You can read Calvin&Hobbes, The New Kid, Drama, or if she’s able to, more adult comics such as Maus or Ducks/a year in the oil sands and ask her about telling the story of a person who used to live where you live at a historical period of her choice through visual images and dialogue, or convert a memoir she’s read into a comic (?)
She can read BBC Writers, there are scenarii you can access, as well as videos, to work on dialogue.
Finally, a REALLY fun way to write is to write fanfiction - you have a built in audience who will love what you write. You can be her first reader (sometimes called a Beta).
She could have a fan fiction club if there are enough kids who like one thing she likes (tv show, cartoon…); every week, each member writes their chapter in their own dedicated notebook then they exchange notebooks and say what they liked about it (favorite sentence..) or where they hope it goes. You bring the cookies. 
To get an idea this is a cute manga:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08JTQL8WD
It’s possible to read online fanfiction but that can’t be accessed without supervision at her age. I’m not sure what she likes but I’m sure there are KPop Demon Hunters fan fictions, Miraculous&Chat Noir fan fictions, etc. out there. Definitely Harry Potter.
There are apparently LOTS of teen girls on AO3 and Wattpad. Writing hundreds of pages about their favorite characters’ adventures and dramas.
Depending on the fanfic website, you have to be careful she doesn’t have access because there will literally be a million stories posted about everything, and what’s posted tends to be for teens and, often, adults (as in “don’t let anyone under the age of 18 near that”) - however, if you see fandoms that parallel her interests, you CAN open the account in your name with your handle; select the “G” and “T” stories to see if the comments are kind, and pre read the stories you share with her.
If you want to post her stories under your handle, make sure to use filters and comments on preview so that only comments you approve get posted. Within these parameters (no direct access, filtered fics, previewed comments) you can post her stories about her favorite characters and she’ll get adoring fans. I wouldn’t do that before 8-9th grade though even with complete control and supervision. In person fan fic club with cookies would likely be more fun for 11-12 year olds anyway.
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As I read your post, it sounds like you want to be more involved in this activity with her, along the lines of baseball with your son. Many of these creative pursuits are a bit more solitary, but you can be supportive. Buying her a nice journal, a book for her drawings, any art supplies (or even those little watercolor pads, visiting museums with her, making sure on vacations that some activities include her interests – all are ways to encourage and support her creativity. Maybe make a ritual of going to the library together every week, perhaps coupling it with breakfast or lunch, and you can talk about what she’s reading. Most writers love to read, and most readers find authors and genres they like. Maybe have her make some book recommendations for you.
The community colleges and private schools near me have lots of 1-2 week summer sessions for kids this age that take advantage of their facilities in creative topics like writing, film-making, ceramics, photography, painting, etc. Maybe something like that would be of interest.
At this point, it’s all about showing that you are interested in her, not making her better at it.
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I fully agree with this!!
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Of course, in my experience, 11 year olds soon turn to tweens who want us to stay in the car Again she is lucky to have you even if she soon hides your existence from peers! It sounds like that has not happened with your son though. What is the equivalent of coaching baseball ? I volunteered for my son’s theater program and helped my other kid’s dance company with publicity. But basically I did a lot of driving! So many conversations happen in the car with our kids.
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Thanks again for all the feedback and helpful suggestions. This is all very helpful for me. Utilizing the library writing resources, summer programs, camps, reading with her, etc are all something I can definitely incorporate.
One unanimous recommendation is reading, which always had also been a priority for me, but has not been able to make it happen.
My daughter just prefers to write and draw and dance to music, all the time. 4 hours, 6 hours or 8 hours a day on these activities and she still has just one more thing to write or draw that she just needs 5 more minutes just before bedtime to finish! She does read the books assigned to her either at school or AOPS with much interest but few books otherwise. I got The Lunar Chronicles boxed set last May, she wanted it, asked for it, but finished only a couple of months back and that too with some nudges on my part. She used to read comic book style books, which she used to pick up from the library but she seems to run out of them.
How do you encourage a child to read when all she wants to do is write and draw, regardless of the number of hours she has free?
I am going to propose we read 6 books this summer, she picks three and I pick three. If I suggest something like this she would be fairly game. Maybe that is all there is to it?
Thank you!
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Don’t forget the low stakes reward after you both finish the book- special flavor of ice cream, trip the garden center to pick out pansies or geraniums to plant, etc.
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Disagree.
AI can be very helpful in teaching one to write well and how to improve a writer’s work product without losing “the writer’s voice”.
Just think of AI as the teacher who can no longer serve in this way. Write a piece, then ask AI for a critique or ask how to improve the writing or how to inject a certain desired quality into the writing.
Do you know any 6th grade teachers? Because your posts suggest that you don’t.
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Your post suggests that you are unfamiliar with AI.
In the current situation, the 6th grade teacher is no longer an option.
Sometimes kids go through phases, and they’ll ignore their books for a long while, and then all of a sudden they become interested again. Making sure to continue to offer them options (from the library or purchased) is important, though.
Sometimes you can also make the reading a more attractive option than something else that you would otherwise have them do. For instance, my kid didn’t want to go to an MLK service/march with me, but was willing to read a book about some of MLK’s precepts instead.
But spend time finding books you think she’d enjoy. For some people, spending the time to find a book of interest is the obstacle to reading, but if presented with something that is right up their alley, they will happily read the book.
The Drawing Lesson by Mark Crilley might be up her alley as it’s a real story that incorporates drawing lessons within it. Crilley followed it up with The Comic Book Lesson.
Or pair up paragraph-style books with graphic novels, such as:
- Lois Lowry’s The Giver with its graphic novel adaptation
- Anne Frank’s Diary and the graphic adaptation
- Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time and its graphic novel version
- J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and the graphic novel version
- Some of Edgar Allan Poe’s works and Poe: Stories and Poems: A Graphic Novel
- Richard Adams’ Watership Down and the related graphic novel
There are also graphic novel versions of To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, The Call of the Wild, Tuck Everlasting, and many more.
And although I just mentioned a number of books that might be part of school reading, don’t limit her (or yourselves) to those kinds of books. Here, for instance, is a list of books about dance for intermediate grades (4-6).
And as she gets older (or some selected options could be appropriate now)
And as her reading improves (if she’s really ballet)
Obviously, I don’t know your D’s reading level or other interests, but this is the kind of stuff you can do to pick options you think would be really appealing to her.
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