13 December 2025
Posted by Melissa Dehn
Junior & Young Writers Week 5: Christmas Zines
The last writing
session of 2025 was cosy and jolly, with chocolate, cards, and Christmas music
(or, in the case of the young writers, atmospheric sci-fi music). We opened the
session by describing our weeks as wrapped presents: a hastily wrapped football
with holes, a present wrapped in endless wrapping paper, and chocolate wrapped
in chocolate.
To warm up,
we had a quick game of Alternate Uses, followed by Disaster Chain – accompanied
by a little creativity-inspiring chocolate.
The first,
festive exercise of the session was a Winter 3 Word Story. All of the writers came
up with Christmas-themed words, after which a generator randomly assigned three
words to each writer. The writers came up with their own, often humorous,
versions of a Christmas story that included the three given words.
Finally,
the rest of the session was spent creating zines: a small, handmade booklet. All
of the writers were engrossed in their task and made interesting zines on
festive topics of their choice:
- Henry: How
to make tasty Christmas food, including dipping brussels sprouts in chocolate. - Juno: An
explanation as to why gerbils are the best (early) Christmas present. Key
reasons include that they look cute in Santa hats and are too quiet to disturb Santa
when he climbs down the chimney. - William:
How to survive Christmas? Start by not letting baboons into your house. - Haimish: A
robin’s guide to surviving Christmas. Hide your house so others don’t eat your
food. - Evan: Santa’s
guide to delivering presents. After ensuring that your reindeers can fly, order
a bottomless sack from eBay. Always remember to eat the cookies before going
back up the chimney. - Catherine:
Traditions of the cake cult universe. Cake is not edible on the planet. - Eddie: How
to deal with kids screaming at 2 & 4 A.M. You could cook the kids, dress up
as Santa and scare them – or simply just end your own existence. - Sonny: The
Christmas Witch. See pictures for a drawing of the witch and her house. - Daisy: Christmas
advice, such as calling your friends at 4 AM, opening your presents before 5 in
the morning, and forcing your family to listen to Bob Dylan’s Christmas songs.
Overall, a lovely
final session of the year. Thank you very much to Frankie for leading the sessions, thank you all for a fun term, and Happy Holidays!
-Melissa
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'
