09 March 2024
Posted by By Sue Edser
Killing Your Darlings
Junior Writers
The Junior Writers were showing their pre-performance prowess in this session, ready for the writing festival’s Community Showcase the following day.
The session began with a writing warm-up, to get everyone's creative energy buzzing. Ali Sparkes asked the Junior Writers to create an Easter Bunny with a twist. This one was bad! The group wrote about bunnies who were not nice at all and if they were real, would certainly have been put on the naughty step.
The focus then turned to the witness statements and newspaper reports about MAST’s ghost cat. Everyone read out their work and Sue timed how long they took. The lengths ranged from 16 seconds to 1 min 38 seconds, with a total running time of approximately 12 minutes. This would fit well within the 30-minute slot the group had scheduled on Sunday.
While sharing their stories about the spooky cat, there were also some mysterious dramas in the room. A man’s voice could be heard announcing for people to go to places in the building and a water bottle fell over twice. Could the ghost cat have been playing tricks on the Junior Writers?
Young Writers
The Young Writers had their work cut out in this session, as they made their final preparations for the writing festival’s Community Showcase the following day.
Ali Sparkes began the session with a warm-up, asking the young people to write a short story about a sinister Easter Bunny. The imaginative writers came up with scenarios that made us laugh, gasp and look at the Easter Bunny story in a new light. All I can say is, guard your Easter eggs this year!
The focus then turned to the witness statements and newspaper reports about MAST’s ghost. Everyone presented their work and we talked about how to read well in front of an audience. We considered pacing and how to manage nerves.
Ali wanted to make sure the group stayed within their time slot the next day, but the lengths of the pieces ranged from one minute to three and a half minutes. This meant everyone had to relook at their work and do the thing writers find challenging: edit! Ali explained the concept of ‘killing your darlings’ and how important it is to fit within a time or word count.
They all rose to the challenge and were excited about the Community Showcase the next day.
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'
