Is this normal average kid behavior?

I think it's totally normal in the sense that lots of kids get largely consumed by their passions, whether it be writing or Pokemon cards or a sport. This particular passion seems like a great one; I would just make sure she cultivates other interests as well, even if to a vastly lesser degree.

I wouldn't describe it as "normal, average kid behavior" but neither would I think it's any cause for concern. She's passionate about writing and it draws her focus and keeps her engaged. I can't think of a single reason I wouldn't be thrilled about that. 

There's nothing wrong with being normal and average, but neither is there anything wrong with not being either of those.

I used to write a lot when I was young. I wrote children's stories, poems and tried to start novels. It's a creative hobby and beats the heck out of video games.

Ten year olds are my favorite.  I taught that age for 26 years.  And yes, your granddaughter is perfectly normal, but maybe not average.  (If that makes sense).  At this age, kids are all over the place figuring out who they are and what they love.  Every year I had kids (both male and female) who loved to write or read.  They would often forgo recess just to do what they loved.  My last year of teaching I had a girl who wrote about 35 pages a week in her free time.  I loved her writing, and she was hysterical.  I bought her a journal to encourage her writing.  She wrote for me all year.  I would look at her spurts of writing as a great way for you two to bond.  Read what she has written and take her to the library and find books on the subject (or give as gifts).  There are some decent books for young writers that help them get published (if that is her thing).  Just encourage that brain to be as creative as possible.  I can't tell you how many book dedications I have seen that start with To my grandma...

My classmate did this and she is now a well-known young adult author who has published at least 10 novels. Encourage it!!!

What they all said.

Plus, be sure to keep some of her writing because some day when she's a famous published author you'll have her early works.

She sounds amazing. How fun it would be to help her self publish something!

My niece (now 13) has always been able to spend literally all day doing whatever she is currently into. It's been paper-crafting (she still does this), hama beads, loom bands, reading, colouring, and her latest is acrylic nails. Nephew can't entertain himself for more than half an hour without needing input and reassurance from adults. I think your DGD is very lucky to be able to focus for so long.

I don't think you have anything to worry about. I don't believe there is any such thing as "normal" - all children are different and they all have their gifts.

My DD is almost 7 and she too loves to write and draw. Not all day at this point, but pretty frequently. I think kids who are early readers tend to like to write too.

My 10 year old DD would write and write and write all day long taking a break to read some. She loves working in Google documents because if she is creating she can be on the computer. She has been writing for about 4 years and has came up with some pretty elaborate stories. I've never thought of it as a-typical behavior but more, just her favorite thing to do. And a quick scam to get screen time...

NANOWRIMO is for all of us who write -- no borders!

 I was like the OP's granddaughter and it worked out well for me professionally. I still think writing is fun.

I think it's fairly typical for some kids to have times when they do *something* they they really love for literally hours and hours and hours, yes. I just think the *something* is different for different kids.

When I was a kid I wrote as well. But some days I would devote to a different all day endeavor instead. I worked for an entire week once on a multi-floor house plan that i cut our of cardboard so it would stand up like a model of the house.

My own kids, however, draw. And draw. And draw. There are notebooks and sketch books and composition books and loose papers with drawings on them everywhere around here. On different days at different stages they have done other things for hours. My 1st grader can spend an entire day making Lego creations while the older one can spend an entire day creating elaborate things on the creative side of Minecraft.

As long as they both also do other things other days (like getting up and moving around) I'm fine with them devoting some days to these type of things as well.

DD16was like that at 9/10 - she'll be 17 next week and is still writing...she's done NaNoWriMo for several years now.

DD10 writes also - not quite as much - she tends to illustrate her stories more

DS? At 10, I was still hoping for a complete sentence...he was 12 before he could write a paragraph...but he had dysgraphia and ASD - he writes fine now but will never be a writer

This is one of my favorite dedications to Grandma. The author is from Glee. He is on his 11th book and is 26. My student loved his novels.



“To Grandma,
for being my first editor and giving me the best writing advice I’ve ever received: “Christopher, I think you should wait until you’re done with elementary school before worrying about being a failed writer.”