03 October 2023
Identity
This week’s session of Mayflower Creative Writers, ahead of our trip next week to Sizwe Banzi is Dead, was about Identity.
To start us off, we chose a well-known character from a book / TV show but did not reveal them to the group, instead writing a ‘true description’ of them (as if we were being first introduced) without revealing their name or gender - to see if anyone could guess who we’d chosen.
Answers (and descriptions) included:
- Spongebob Squarepants (“bright-eyed, buck-toothed, and highly annoying”)
- Count Dracula (“at night, they are free to fly, bat-formed, on the lookout for blood”)
- Elle Woods (“she wears her heart on her sleeve, as seen in this month’s Vogue”)
Using the character we chose, we then wrote down:
- What they want
- The main location of their story
- Their main 2 relationships
Other characters included Poirot, and Piggy (Lord of the Flies).
Next, we did a 7 minute freewrite about the character in third person, introducing these details.
With this fleshed out, and our character vivid in our mind, we now wrote down the opposite of:
- What they want
- The main location of their story
- Their main 2 relationships (the least likely people for them to get on with)
Our task was to present this opposite version of the character in a 7 minute freewrite.
Poirot was now a murderer, Dracula needed marriage counseling, and Elle Woods was enforcing systematic oppression.
We gave our new opposite character a name.
Finally, we chose one of many blank envelopes Holly had brought in. Inside each was a piece of card with a prompt such as ‘beneath the surface’ or ‘a ripple in the water’. On it, we wrote a letter from our newly named character to somebody in their world, inspired by the prompt, but left it unaddressed*.
*To be continued… Mayflower Creative Writers returns next week.
Libby's writing
Zumar's writing
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'
