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

11 January 2025

Posted by Susan L. Edser

Mood

Ali Sparkes is a children’s author who leads writing sessions for Junior and Young Writers every Saturday morning at MAST Mayflower Studios. To learn more about her, visit her website: https://www.alisparkes.com and click on her profile: https://artfulscribe.co.uk/facilitators/ali-sparkes

Susan L. Edser, MA graduate in Creative Writing and Publishing and winner of Bournemouth University’s prestigious Vice Chancellor Award 2024, is Ali’s assistant and writes the weekly blog. To learn more about her, click on her profile: https://artfulscribe.co.uk/facilitators/susan-l-edser


This was the first session of the New Year, and we welcomed two new members to the Junior Writers group. The topic for today’s session was ‘mood’, and Ali began by asking the writers to describe their moods. They responded with words like happy, excited and joyful. They were then invited to pick a tile from the Box of Wonder [cue ‘ooo’ sound] which had words written on them, such as scared, confused and mischievous. They had to complete the Fill-in Fun ‘Guess My Mood’ sheet using this emotion while the rest of the group guessed it. ‘Hyper-sensitive’ was brilliantly described by a Young Writer who thought of their deceased grandmother whenever they saw broccoli. Anything green triggered their memories, so they had to move to Antarctica. 

We then experienced how music can change moods and impact creative writing. Ali set a task to write a short story, beginning with, ’I’m going out to meet my friend…’ accompanied by various music tracks. ‘New Horizons’ by The Gothard Sisters is Celtic folk music that inspired happy, joyful writing. The music score from the thriller movie ‘The Village’ created dramatic stories. The Junior Writers wrote about entering graveyards, haunted houses and walking in the woods. The Young Writers wrote about kidnappers, murderers and shipwreck survivors. The writing was suitably atmospheric and terrifying. 

As it was the first session after Christmas, the Junior Writers were treated to a game of consequences. It is always good for silly stories and plenty of laughter. The Young Writer’s bonus exercise was ‘Mood Swing’. They were asked to write about a protagonist in a particular mood as they entered a playground but to change it when they saw someone (or something) on the swing. ‘I want a clear shift,’ Ali stressed. They delivered, of course.

The session ended with Ali handing out stickers for ‘Writer of the Week’. Poppy was this week’s winner from the Junior Writers, and Olivia won the sticker from the Young Writer group. Congratulations to them both! Our favourite quote of today was, ‘I am not allowed scissors as I might kill my brother’, with ‘I’m a Scottish skipping maniac’ as a close second. 

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