30 September 2025
Posted by Harley Truslove
Scripts To Hook You & Historical Fiction!
Ali brought in, in her own words, “something sophisticated”… which turned out to be a wind-up fishing toy game! After battling the magnets on their tiny hooks, our writers played in pairs to catch as many fish as they could. Each had a number on the bottom which our writers had to note down.
When everyone had done with their catch of the day, they had to pick random words from corresponding numbered lists. There were some real oddball ones in there, which made the next challenge all the more tricky… use them in a play script! The words had to be used within the first few lines and hook the audience, as it were…
Here are some word lists and what our writers came up with for them:
Trifle, Tractor, Castle, Zebra - a grisly murder scene set up onstage for scene one.
Wallowing, X-ray, Pimple, Cake, Muddy - a character was attacked by a rock-hard cake to the face, and did not want to go for another pimple x-ray.
Roaring, Helter-Skelter, Wispy - a ringmaster welcoming us to the circus!
Casket; Reactive; Gnu; Candelabra - a truly chaotic funeral scene.
We then discussed upcoming competitions that our writers could get involved with. This time around, it was the Young Walter Scott Prize for historical writing. Ali challenged our writers to write a travelling scene, either using their journey to the MAST for the evening as inspiration or to make one up entirely, but change the time period for it. Her advice was to try and tie it to a specific historical moment as people tend to remember events rather than dates. For example, if they were writing in the 1980s they could discuss the marriage of Princess Diana and Charles, or a Victorian scene could discuss Victoria’s coronation.
Some of our writers erred on the side of morbidity. We had a woman being hanged for witchcraft in front of her husband and daughter, as well as an ice-age hunter spearing a rabbit on her sled. We also had an Austen-esque rendezvous as a main character slipped through their window to meet with a beau, and just a straight-up cave painting.
Our writer of the week was Bea, with her great piece about characters in the 1950s going on a date, with plenty of Elvis and period appropriate slang thrown in!
Archive
Junior & Young Writers Week 3: Return From The Magical World
Junior & Young Writers Week 2: African Mythology
Problems, Problems, Problems...
Cautionary Tales & Christmassy Opening Lines
You've Gotta Have Pace, Pace, Pace
Junior & Young Writers Week 1: Alien Encounters
Junior & Young Writers: Week 5 - Play on Words Pt. 2
Junior & Young Writers: Week 11 - end of term showcase [build a bard workshop]
Junior & Young Writers: Week 10 - Greek Theatre - chorus stories
Junior & Young Writers: Week 9 - Greek Origin Stories - Spring
Rubber Ducks & Writing Festivals
Junior & Young Writers: Week 7 - Greek Hero Stories [the 12 labours of Hercules]
Junior & Young Writers: Week 12 [Wild Words] - Stuff & Things
Junior & Young Writers: Week 11 [Wild Words] - World Building 2
Junior & Young Writers: Week 10 [Wild Words] - World Building
Junior & Young Writers: Week 9 [Wild Words] - Mystery & Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior & Young Writers: Week 8 [Wild Words] - Spooky Sequels & Potion Poems
Junior & Young Writers – Week 10 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Final Showcase
Junior & Young Writers – Week 9 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Editing & Performance Tips
Junior & Young Writers – Week 8 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Cuteness
Time goes on by Tavinder Kaur New
Junior & Young Writers – Week 7 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Natural Solutions
Junior & Young Writers – Week 6 (Writers’ Inspiration) – The Language of Fruit and Veg
Junior & Young Writers – Week 5 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Adventures In Space
Tinklebobs and Bedraggled Angles
Junior & Young Writers – Week 4 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Our Environment
Fortune Tellers & Future Letters
Junior & Young Writers – Week 3 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Home
Young Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Junior Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Young Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Young Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Junior Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Young Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Junior Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Young Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers – Week 5 (The Art of Writing) – Poetry
Young Writers - Week 5 (The Art of Writing) - Poetry Potions
Edward The Martyr - A Competition!
Mood Boards and Postcards from Space
Young Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Junior Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Moomin Stories and Hollywood Pitches
Young Writers - Week 2 (The Art of Writing) - Genre & Setting
Junior Writers - Week 2 (The Art of Writing) - Genre & Setting
Prompts, Dialogues, and Cliché
Story Structure Part One: Exposition and Beyond...
Young Writers - Week 1 (The Art of Writing) - Character
Young Writers - week 4 - Nature Writing [animals & wildlife]
Junior Writers - week 4 - Nature Writing [animals & wildlife]
Young Writers - week 3 - Nature Writing [trees/plants/flowers]
Junior Writers - week 3 - Nature Writing [trees/plants/flowers]
Young Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Junior Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
