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21 November 2025

Posted by Amelia Simpson

Problems, Problems, Problems...

Today's theme was Problems: problems, problems, problems. 


This session was set to a backdrop of a cold and wet November day, with buckets of rain falling from the sky as we wrote. 


We started with Fill in Fun, and had various adventures in a school canteen with our characters, Ali emphasized problems. What purpose do they serve in storytelling? Every character needs a problem? 


Ali asked the group to write about a book they had read and what the characters' problems were, for instance from the book Matilda, well she has lots of problems, Matilda's parents were  neglectful and cruel. They love TV, hate books, Matilda loves books and hates TV, Mrs Trunchbull has it out for her… the list goes on. 


After pondering the various problems used as literary devices, Ali pulled out ‘The Box of Wonder’ - a box filled with various prompts created by Ali and her vast imagination, problems like: I have to take a python with me everywhere - My hair whispers rude things to me - every time someone touches me they vomit - I am so beautiful I make everyone cry. The list goes on! 


Using the prompts we got to writing- Eryfli’s character had to take a python with them everywhere, this caused issues with losing the python at the zoo, being late everywhere 


Evie had ‘my hair whispering rude things to me’ and used this prompt to write a devastating story of a girl trying and failing to fall asleep. 


In the older group Tilly had ‘I am secretly an Alien’ and wrote a story about a girl who was a famous ASMR video creator and her trials and tribulations with her mother being, well, very green and an alien, to the point it was affecting her main character's career. 


This session was full of joy, and very few problems ;) 

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