You already know your writer has something special.
They read with hunger. They are not satisfied by yet another class that walks through the Hero's Journey for the nth time. What they are missing is someone who reads their work closely, and understands them as an exceptional young writer.
You may have tried a whole range of writing options for them, but everything comes with serious caveats:
English classes teach literary analysis, but not voice.
General tutors know grammar, but not storytelling.
Group workshops move at the pace of the median student.
Camps spark inspiration for a week, then the momentum fades.
Contests reward only output and quietly drain creative joy.
What they are missing is someone who reads their work closely, and understands them as an exceptional young writer. They're missing a mentor.
Save Your Young Writer's Spot.
My bespoke 1:1 mentorship is currently full. However, you can add your young writer to the waitlist, and you will hear from me directly the moment that spots open up, before anything is announced elsewhere.
Simple Scheduling
Once spots are open, you'll be guided to a simple yet actionable intake call so your writer can hit the ground running.
Interested in Learning More?
Meet Your Young Writer's Mentor
Madelyn Dietz
Founder and mentor.
The first homeschooled National Student Poet and one of twenty U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts. Graduated from Princeton with High Honors in 2025 and received the Joyce Carol Oates Award for poetry and prose.
I have been teaching creative writing since I was in middle school. I remember well how it felt to be an eager young writer handed vague praise instead of a real reading, and from the very start, my teaching has focused on making sure young creatives are truly heard and seen.
Every lesson I teach is written from scratch for one writer, one project, and one moment in their development. Nothing is pulled from standardized curriculum, because a curriculum cannot know your young writer.
Two Ways to Work Together:
Bespoke Mentorship Subscription
Four sessions a month at $500, booked around your family's life; set a fixed weekly slot or book on a flexible basis. Includes a craft plan across the genres and mediums that interest your young writer most, developmental editing on every long-form project, and line editing down to the syllabic level. Built for writers who want to take their craft to the next level, or are ready to embark on a novel, a collection, or a competitive portfolio.
The Single Session
One focused session at $150, with written follow-up notes your writer can take back to the page. Built for writers who already have a creative practice and know what they need help with right now.
Wordplay Wisdom works with enthusiastic young writers from elementary through high school across fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, scripts, fan fiction, and experimental work. I do not work on school essays, college application essays, or with reluctant writers. If your writer already loves this and wants to get seriously better at it, they belong here.
I am relocating to Boston this fall and I am not enrolling new mentorship clients during the move. Rather than guess at a date now, I will write to the waitlist with real availability once I am settled and my schedule is stable again.
The Bespoke Mentorship Subscription is $500 per month for four sessions. Single sessions are $150 each. Every new family starts with a required $30 intake call, thirty minutes, so we can talk through what your writer actually needs. I publish these numbers because you deserve to make a financial decision with full information in front of you.
No. It puts you at the front of the line and gives me a sense of who is waiting. When I reach out, you decide from there.
Critique that lands well is specific, and specificity is the opposite of harsh. I name what a writer is already doing well at the level of the individual line before I name what is not yet working, and the writer keeps ownership of every decision about their own draft.
Not Sure Which Option Fits Your Writer?
Join the waitlist above, and read through the full mentorship details while you wait. When I reach out, we can talk it through fully on an affordable $30 intake call.