Had a mega session on Saturday! Ten Young Writers came along including two new members! This is so great! Huge welcome to the newbies, I am so glad you enjoyed the session and hope to see you again next time.
The topic this week was - back by popular demand - writing strip picture stories for comics. This is still a hugely popular area of literature with Graphic Novels for both adults and children currently making a big come-back. That whole novels can be told in this way clearly enthralled the Young Writers!
Having gone through the basics - getting the idea, outlining the pictures, adding the script and then combining all three - the Young Writers were soon working diligently away. Some invented characters and stories of their own and some "borrowed" characters from well-known comics and built new stories up around them.
It intrigued me that they mostly went haring straight into the pictures, making up the stories as each picture box emerged and adding the speech balloons as they went along. Talk about spontaneous! But the point of the session was really to get them to plan something out, come up with a simple story that could be told in three pictures and then develop it and I have made it very clear that when they hand in their assignments, I want to see how they worked on the story, planned it, developed it and produced it so perhaps you could gently remind them for me that I don't just want the picture stories back when they hand their assignments in, I want to see how they got to the end-product.
Maddie the AYW mascot bear went home with Shaan so let me know what she gets up to, Shaan! Don't forget you can write a poem about her, write it as if it's a letter or do it as a diary entry or story and it is perfectly ok to let your imagination run wild!
I have sent a letter to Croydon Advertiser asking for support from the local community to pave the way to the next Word Magic book. I had the idea of inviting local businesses and organisations to make a contribution towards the cost of producing the book in exchange for a mention on a special supporter's page in the book. Similarly, I have also suggested a special page where someone can write a dedication for a loved one or a friend in exchange for a contribution so let's see how it goes. Let's hope the letter appears in this week's paper first.
If the book is going to come to fruition, I need to raise around £300 so please put the word about. I am going to ask if we can hold a small sale at the library as well and if you can think of any other fund-raising ideas please let me know. I am desperate to give the current batch of Young Writers their own book but I need all the help I can get and that is an appeal from my heart and, I am sure, from the hearts of the Young Writers, so please give us some support if you can.
Next session is on February 26th so see you there. And good work everyone. Saturday's was a great session!
Tuesday, 16 February 2016
Monday, 8 February 2016
See You Saturday ...
Can hardly wait to see you all again this Saturday (13th) - same place, same time. Hope the Young Writers have lots of comic-book ideas! And don't forget to bring in any other work - including assignments set - it all counts towards the next Certificate.
If anyone would like some more leaflets about the group for school or if you haven't had the latest issue of AYW - ok - let me know.
See you Saturday!
If anyone would like some more leaflets about the group for school or if you haven't had the latest issue of AYW - ok - let me know.
See you Saturday!
Friday, 5 February 2016
On Our Way ...
It was lovely to welcome new member Jasmine to our Young Writers session last Saturday! And great to see the Regulars getting stuck in with the topic which was Non-Rhyming Poems. We haven't actually covered this as a subject in its own right before - although we touched on it when we did Free Verse a few months back. I explained that snatching sentences out of the air and stringing them together is a good way to create a non-rhyme poem. I suggested something along the lines of Fish in a pond, a day at the zoo as a good way to open such a verse, concluding it with Busy day out with Auntie Joan as a means to tying it in. Thus:
fish in the pond
a day at the zoo
busy day out
with Auntie Joan
is a perfectly good example of non-rhyming poetry.
After overcoming the restraints of syllable counting with Haiku and Tanka in recent sessions, once the Young Writers grasped the concept of practically anything goes, they were, as usual, soon coming up with some cracking poetry - some of which will appear in the next AYW - ok issue.
It is this constant eagerness and being willing to try anything in the world of Creative Writing that so thrills and excites me about these young writers. They truly love to write; they are passionate about it and that is what it is all about of course! One day I am going to put all this into a book to encourage others to start similar groups - and that book will be dedicated to every single AYW member, past present and future. They are the lifeblood of this group and I am so proud of them!
We will be going back to writing comic strips for the next couple of sessions. This subject is back by popular demand and I think there's only a couple of members who were here when we tackled it last time so, for most, it will be another new experience.
The next session will be on 13th February so please come along - I look forward to seeing you there.
fish in the pond
a day at the zoo
busy day out
with Auntie Joan
is a perfectly good example of non-rhyming poetry.
After overcoming the restraints of syllable counting with Haiku and Tanka in recent sessions, once the Young Writers grasped the concept of practically anything goes, they were, as usual, soon coming up with some cracking poetry - some of which will appear in the next AYW - ok issue.
It is this constant eagerness and being willing to try anything in the world of Creative Writing that so thrills and excites me about these young writers. They truly love to write; they are passionate about it and that is what it is all about of course! One day I am going to put all this into a book to encourage others to start similar groups - and that book will be dedicated to every single AYW member, past present and future. They are the lifeblood of this group and I am so proud of them!
We will be going back to writing comic strips for the next couple of sessions. This subject is back by popular demand and I think there's only a couple of members who were here when we tackled it last time so, for most, it will be another new experience.
The next session will be on 13th February so please come along - I look forward to seeing you there.
Monday, 18 January 2016
WELCOME BACK ...
Huge thanks to everyone who turned up to the first AYW session of 2016! It was great to see you all there and eight on a first day back after a break, is brilliant!
We got off to a flying start - albeit in the junior library. I asked the Young Writers to just write a little piece about their Christmas break to get the creative juices flowing - and then we tackled the completely new poetry form (for most of them anyway) of Tanka. Like Haiku, Tanka is a syllable-led poetry form consisting of 31 syllables, usually laid out in 5 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7 formation - although its beauty lies in the fact that unlike haiku, the actual pattern is pretty flexible as long as the number of syllables used is 31 - so you could even have a pattern of 1, 5, 5, 10, 10 or whatever you like.
Once the Young Writers got to grips with this, they were churning out Tanka like there was no tomorrow so well done to all of them for giving it a go! The assignment was to produce a Tanka at home and, of course, any that are completed and returned will count towards the next Certificate.
Have decided to always log on this blog who takes Maddie the AYW bear home with them - especially following her period of being AWOL just before Christmas. So on this occasion it was Timothy who was given the pleasure of Maddie's company and her diary to record any adventures (and she seems to have plenty!). So Timothy I hope she behaves herself for you and that you have some fun times between now and the next session. Don't forget to update Maddie's diary! It is always fun to read after one of her little jaunts.
And talking of the next session - that will be on Saturday 30th January so I look forward to seeing you then. Good Writing, everyone.
We got off to a flying start - albeit in the junior library. I asked the Young Writers to just write a little piece about their Christmas break to get the creative juices flowing - and then we tackled the completely new poetry form (for most of them anyway) of Tanka. Like Haiku, Tanka is a syllable-led poetry form consisting of 31 syllables, usually laid out in 5 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7 formation - although its beauty lies in the fact that unlike haiku, the actual pattern is pretty flexible as long as the number of syllables used is 31 - so you could even have a pattern of 1, 5, 5, 10, 10 or whatever you like.
Once the Young Writers got to grips with this, they were churning out Tanka like there was no tomorrow so well done to all of them for giving it a go! The assignment was to produce a Tanka at home and, of course, any that are completed and returned will count towards the next Certificate.
Have decided to always log on this blog who takes Maddie the AYW bear home with them - especially following her period of being AWOL just before Christmas. So on this occasion it was Timothy who was given the pleasure of Maddie's company and her diary to record any adventures (and she seems to have plenty!). So Timothy I hope she behaves herself for you and that you have some fun times between now and the next session. Don't forget to update Maddie's diary! It is always fun to read after one of her little jaunts.
And talking of the next session - that will be on Saturday 30th January so I look forward to seeing you then. Good Writing, everyone.
Sunday, 10 January 2016
PENCILS POISED ...
This is GREAT!!! We are only in the second week of January and I have already had an enquiry about Addiscombe Young Writers! I am so chuffed!
So how is everyone? I hope all the Young Writers are ready for another busy year of writing. Don't forget the next session is this Saturday (16th) - usual place and time. My plan is to have the new issue of AYW - ok ready. That is the plan anyway. And also to have some new and fresh ideas to see us through the coming sessions.
How was your Christmas? Mine was lovely but very busy busy busy. And it didn't stop on 1st January either. Only yesterday I was in Southend with husband Steve to celebrate youngest grandson Oscar's first birthday! Have quite a lot coming up for 2016 with one thing and another - writing-wise, job-wise and family-wise - including a Christening in February and a wedding in April! Sometimes I don't know how I cope! But I always do.
I am planning to concentrate my own writing activities to poetry this year. I rather neglected it last year once My Writer was launched. I am going to be stocking up on copies of my book again soon so please keep me in mind for Spring Fairs or Fetes at your child's school!
That is about it for now - must start on the new newsletter.
See you Saturday!
So how is everyone? I hope all the Young Writers are ready for another busy year of writing. Don't forget the next session is this Saturday (16th) - usual place and time. My plan is to have the new issue of AYW - ok ready. That is the plan anyway. And also to have some new and fresh ideas to see us through the coming sessions.
How was your Christmas? Mine was lovely but very busy busy busy. And it didn't stop on 1st January either. Only yesterday I was in Southend with husband Steve to celebrate youngest grandson Oscar's first birthday! Have quite a lot coming up for 2016 with one thing and another - writing-wise, job-wise and family-wise - including a Christening in February and a wedding in April! Sometimes I don't know how I cope! But I always do.
I am planning to concentrate my own writing activities to poetry this year. I rather neglected it last year once My Writer was launched. I am going to be stocking up on copies of my book again soon so please keep me in mind for Spring Fairs or Fetes at your child's school!
That is about it for now - must start on the new newsletter.
See you Saturday!
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!
Well the Big Day is almost here! How exciting is that (I'm sorry - Christmas is the one thing I have never outgrown and I still feel exactly the same about it now as I did when I was little - and luckily I married a man whose inner child also has extra sparkle at this time of year!)?
Huge thanks to everyone for letting me know if your Young Writer (or Writers) can make our little Christmas Party on Saturday. I will be doing one short exercise with the Young Writers - but nothing too taxing - before the snacks and then the sessions start again on Saturday 16th January when - I hope - the next edition of AYW - ok will be ready for distribution. I won't be setting another assignment until the first session in January. The Young Writers have worked hard all year and I think they deserve a break. But my plan is to come back with all sorts of new ideas and new experiences for 2016 - and one of the things I am looking at, as long as I can get the funding, is a new anthology of their work. If any of you mums, dads or grandparents know of a printer or printing company who would be prepared to give us a discount, please let me know. The first Young Writers book cost almost £250 to produce, almost half of which I put up. I don't begrudge a penny of it but I am never going to recoup that now, so any help with the new one would be very very gratefully received.
All that remains for me to say is a big BIG thank you to the library staff for their continued support, to Ciaran for his enlightening chat the other week, to the Young Writers for their amazing enthusiasm and, of course, to all the grown-ups who hold the group is such high esteem. You are the real nuts and bolts of Addiscombe Young Writers and saying thanks doesn't seem to really convey how very grateful I am to everyone.
Have a brilliant Christmas and a happy, healthy, successful and peaceful New Year.
Big Hugs.
Huge thanks to everyone for letting me know if your Young Writer (or Writers) can make our little Christmas Party on Saturday. I will be doing one short exercise with the Young Writers - but nothing too taxing - before the snacks and then the sessions start again on Saturday 16th January when - I hope - the next edition of AYW - ok will be ready for distribution. I won't be setting another assignment until the first session in January. The Young Writers have worked hard all year and I think they deserve a break. But my plan is to come back with all sorts of new ideas and new experiences for 2016 - and one of the things I am looking at, as long as I can get the funding, is a new anthology of their work. If any of you mums, dads or grandparents know of a printer or printing company who would be prepared to give us a discount, please let me know. The first Young Writers book cost almost £250 to produce, almost half of which I put up. I don't begrudge a penny of it but I am never going to recoup that now, so any help with the new one would be very very gratefully received.
All that remains for me to say is a big BIG thank you to the library staff for their continued support, to Ciaran for his enlightening chat the other week, to the Young Writers for their amazing enthusiasm and, of course, to all the grown-ups who hold the group is such high esteem. You are the real nuts and bolts of Addiscombe Young Writers and saying thanks doesn't seem to really convey how very grateful I am to everyone.
Have a brilliant Christmas and a happy, healthy, successful and peaceful New Year.
Big Hugs.
Monday, 7 December 2015
Ciaran's Visit!
It was absolutely brilliant to welcome local writer Ciaran Murtagh to last Saturday's Young Writer session at Ashburton Library. He was friendly, informal, informative and the Young Writers clung to his every word! Some had brought questions, most settled with a notebook so they could write down any ideas he shared and he had them eating out of his hand within seconds. He kicked off with a little bit of history about his career, then showed a number of his books to everyone. Then he read a snippet from one of his latest books, showed how easily random words picked from a dictionary can form the basis to any story, then took questions, all of which he answered at exactly their level! I will be putting a pointer sheet together highlighting his advice for all the members. Huge thanks to Ciaran and to the library staff for hosting the event.
We now have just one more session (I know - it only seems like yesterday we were coming back after the summer break) between now and Christmas and the library has given us express permission to host a tea party on Saturday 19th December. Please please let me know, if you haven't already, if your budding author can come along. I have a limited number of Christmas presents to dish out (yes I had a quiet word with Father Christmas about this and he said he'd do anything to further encourage these young wordsmiths - even if it meant them getting one present ahead of the Big Day), so it is really important I have a rough idea how many to expect that day. Please text or phone me (07909 518147) to confirm or leave a comment right here on the Blog.
No assignment was set on Saturday but the session before I asked for a couple of haiku (5-7-5) so it would be good if they could hand them in on 19th if possible. And finally a quick word about Notebooks. I issue one of these to every new member and it is for the Young Writers to use to get ideas down, write their assignments in if they so choose and to just play with words. They are not a formal school book because I am not a teacher. They are the sort of note books I used to go out and buy myself at their age and they are for them to use as they wish. I hope that clarifies the situation and huge apologies if I haven't explained this better before.
Looking forward to seeing you all on the 19th!
We now have just one more session (I know - it only seems like yesterday we were coming back after the summer break) between now and Christmas and the library has given us express permission to host a tea party on Saturday 19th December. Please please let me know, if you haven't already, if your budding author can come along. I have a limited number of Christmas presents to dish out (yes I had a quiet word with Father Christmas about this and he said he'd do anything to further encourage these young wordsmiths - even if it meant them getting one present ahead of the Big Day), so it is really important I have a rough idea how many to expect that day. Please text or phone me (07909 518147) to confirm or leave a comment right here on the Blog.
No assignment was set on Saturday but the session before I asked for a couple of haiku (5-7-5) so it would be good if they could hand them in on 19th if possible. And finally a quick word about Notebooks. I issue one of these to every new member and it is for the Young Writers to use to get ideas down, write their assignments in if they so choose and to just play with words. They are not a formal school book because I am not a teacher. They are the sort of note books I used to go out and buy myself at their age and they are for them to use as they wish. I hope that clarifies the situation and huge apologies if I haven't explained this better before.
Looking forward to seeing you all on the 19th!
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