08 June 2024
Posted by Susan L. Edser
Questions and Character
The warm-up today was a quick-fire poem exercise using the following words:
Crash
Pillow
Crazy / Discombobulated (for the older group)
Bog
Fizzy
Delighted / Ridiculous (for the older group)
Sue, who has become the group’s DJ, provided music that helped the writing process, although some thought it was like lift music.
The two groups devised clever rhyming, such as ‘fighted’ with ‘delighted’ and ‘over-populated’ with ‘discombobulated’. This demonstrated excellent scanning and an ability to play with words, like other great poets before them. Everyone managed to write poems with good form, structure, and rhythm. One person went off-brief and drew a cat instead!
Ali then introduced the session's aim to explore questions and character. She invited the writers to pick a question from the question box. This included ones such as:
Why are you sticky?
What happens if I drink this?
Do you trust me?
How did you get that scar?
Can you swim?
Who stole the fish?
What happened to your feet?
Both groups created intriguing characters and storylines, including a slimy monster called Slimarella, dead cousins stealing fish and growth serums.
Ali then explored how characters can help engage readers and make them want to know what will happen next. The group discussed elements such as whether the characters have a family, what they like, and their personalities. The most important questions are: What does the character want, and what is their problem?
The groups let their imaginations flow, and these were some of their ideas:
A girl looks 20 but is actually 100 years old
A girl wants a pet but her parents say no
A boy who can’t read, has no friends and wants to change both these things
A girl who dreams of becoming an astronaut
A girl who is a serial killer, hates everyone, and Superman is her enemy.
A person who can see abstract nouns, like ‘happiness’, which is their superpower.
A woman is 10,000 years old, lives in hell and the Divine One is her enemy
We topped off the morning session with discussing The Wizard of Oz and how tropes are repeated in many other stories.
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'
