12 November 2022
Posted by Beth McKeeman
Origin Stories
Junior - 9 Young - 10
Once upon a time there was an island called Pilutkeymon…
We’ve built the island and it’s inhabitants, but how did it come to be? We found out with a game of fortunately, unfortunately.
Once upon a time there was an island called Pilutkeymon. The people that lived there were happy.
Unfortunately a meteor crashed into the island and everything died.
Fortunately some microorganisms survived.
Unfortunately they couldn’t survive the heat from the meteor.
Fortunately a coconut drifted in from the sea.
Unfortunately there were flowers growing on the coconut which meant anything inside couldn’t escape.
Fortunately Pringles fell out of the coconut because the animals smashed it.
Unfortunately the animals ate all the pringles and there were none left.
Fortunately another coconut came from the sky.
Unfortunately that coconut rolled close to the Extremely Very Bad Mountain which the meteor had created.
Fortunately monkeys bashed the coconut out of the way. It smashed against a tree and started spreading life around the island.
Our Junior Writers enjoyed creating this origin story because it was collaborative, creative and we found out more about the Extremely Very Bad Mountain.
We then read the story How The Whale Became. Before reading it, we put down our guesses. Whales might have evolved from lizards, dolphins or microorganisms. They could have come from chemicals, a rock sprung to life, a pringle sculpture come to life, or whales could be part of the natural life cycle of the seagull.
We were surprised by how Ted Hughes’ whale origin occurred, but enjoyed it and used it as a basis to create our own animal origins, being prompted by each other with words to include.
As opposed to origins of the land, Young Writers looked at character origins, in particular villain origins.
We built these up by writing 4 sentences about your villain before they became a villain (or bad guy/antagonist depending on which suited our worlds).
Next 3 sentences about their personality and/or events that turned the character into a villain.
Then 2 sentences about the villains motivation for what they want more than anything in the world and why it matters to them.
As a challenge from the phrase ‘I don’t like poetry’ we looked at a list poem; name and author.
This was a form that struck with our writers, who used the to record their own characters descent to the bad side.
To round out we called out answers to what is in the dark? Ranging from nothing, to monsters, shadows to brothers, we had a lot of great ideas. What do you think is in the dark?
Archive
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
Junior 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'
Young Writers - week 1 - 'from deep inside a forest'
Creating Communities through Writing
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #6
Making pillows in a house full of feathers
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #5
Exploring home – a place, person, house
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #4
Stories From Our Streets at the Abbeyfield Wessex Society Reminiscence Session at Poole Library
What Do You Really Mean? Writing Dialogue for Scripts
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #3
Character Building & Murder Mysteries
Going inside – from a spark to a story
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #2
Maybe I Can Be Invisible After All... Monologues
Creative Writing: Fun Facts, Diverse Voices and Different Perspectives
Writing Competition - Stories From Our Streets
Stories From Our Streets Community Activity Pack
Thinking in-quiet, after the fire
Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City Curated by Lubaina Himid CBE
Ekphrastic Jukebox - Writing to Music
ArtfulScribe LitFest Community Showcase 2023
Young writers exercise their creative power
Writing to The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Mousetrap - Mayflower Young and Junior Writers Investigate Mystery!
Stories From Our Streets Launch!
Interview: In Conversation with Dr Victoria Leslie
The Missing Farmer/ Blackout Poetry & DADA
Exploring this wonderful World
Using props to create characters/ working as a writing room
Stories of the Dust and Character Questions
Storytelling and Escalation or Rising Action
Junior Writers Club Acrostic Poem
Notes on Intention for MAST Collective - Year 3 - Facilitation Focus
Earthquakes & Dominoes - MAST Collective Blog #4
SUPER MARIO AND POP CULTURE POEMS
Receptionists & Inky Voids - MAST Collective Blog #3
Saying No and saying YES on National Poetry Day!
There's a Dragon in the Wardrobe...
House Warming Party (The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known) - MAST Collective Blog #2
Intern Blog 5 - The Publishing Process
POEMS TO SOLVE THE CLIMATE CRISIS
On The Streets With Theresa Lola
Intern Blog 4 - The Internship Journey
NEW DIRECTIONS, STARTING SMALL - THE ORWELL YOUTH PRIZE
LIGHTHOUSES, HOPE AND METAPHORS
on workshop and transformations: frogs, lions, and the duck that becomes a larder...
Poetry Ambassadors - Interview with April Egan
Intern Blog 1 - Finding a Voice
World Poetry Day: Fluffypunk and the Invisible Women
On Being a Writer: A Conversation by Beth Phillips & Sam Morton
Poetry Ambassadors - Interview with Kaycee Hill
UNHEARD VOICES: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, AND STORIES OF CONFLICT
