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Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

21 September 2024

Posted by Susan L. Edser

Touch

Children’s author Ali Sparkes and I, recent Creative Writing and Publishing MA graduate Sue Edser, were more excited than anyone to invite our Junior and Young Writers back after their summer break. We had many familiar faces, six new people, and some moving up from one group to the next. Seeing everyone and how well the established writers welcomed the new ones to the mix was a joy.

This term, the focus is the senses, and Ali kicked us off with ‘Touch.’ Our warmup activity was the ever-popular Fill-in Fun, about a character called Wendy. The writers filled in the blanks to create their own stories, one of which saw me coming to a grisly end. Oh dear…

The children and young people were asked to pair up, and one person was given a bag with different objects in it and had to describe them, while the other person guessed what it was. Some were more obvious than others, like the Rubik's cube, but others had the group flummoxed, like the fidget toy. Other items included peppers, leaves, stones, a scarf and dried pasta. This exercise highlighted the need for writers to ‘show rather than tell.’ It’s far more engaging for a reader to work out what is being described than being told what it is. 

Following this initial exercise, Ali tasked the group with feeling chestnuts that were still in their protective cases. ‘Imagine you encounter this chestnut in some way,’ she said. The writers had to describe how it felt, and several people focused on the spikes, describing them as ‘tiny needles penetrating my skin.’ The exercise had a twist (like any good story!). Ali explained that their character finds something other than a nut when they open the shell. They came up with fabulous ideas, such as finding a baby black hole, cackling killer death turtles, and even dinosaurs. Additional exercises included ‘What would you say to someone who put a chestnut in your hand?’ and writing a brief dialogue for someone with a spiky personality. A surprise for the morning was one of our writers quietly completing the Rubik's cube puzzle as others read their work. Amazing. See photos for proof!

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