Creative Writing Workshops
Tutor: Amabel Barraclough
Age: from 8 to 13
Subject: English
Maximum Attendees: 6
Course Outline:
This course is designed to encourage and develop skills in creative writing and storytelling, beyond the usual techniques taught in the classroom. Focusing on the key areas of plot building, language and character I aim to help children write imaginatively and with techniques that they can apply whether in the exam room or for their own enjoyment. I created this course with the idea to engage children in writing creatively in a non pressured environment, where they can use my tips and structures to explore their own ideas. Children have a fantastic creative resource and through this course I hope that they can gain the skills and confidence to realise their own abilities.
Structure
Plot building - learning about the key concepts of plot that are found in all stories, from Cinderella to Star Wars. These ideas about how to structure stories go beyond the usual beginning, middle, end that children are offered at this stage. This more universal look at the fundamentals of story telling is incredibly useful in even the shortest story and has proved invaluable for pupils so far!
Language
Looking at how language creates meaning and mood in a story though games and exercises aimed at encouraging children to play around with language. It is important to widen their vocabulary but also make them feel confident to use language more freely and imaginatively. They will learn how to build original similes and metaphors as well as exploring some different and unexpected effects their use of language can have in a story.
Character
This can be the most fun part of story writing and the most challenging. The course offers ways of how to get started with a character, how to conjure them up out of thin air! They will also look at how to make their character come alive in their stories and how to avoid cliches. All of these aspects of story writing are interconnected and overlap but will be approached distinctly so that the children come away with clear techniques to apply in whatever circumstance they are writing.
Full day course / Minimum attendees: 2