Hello again all you lovely Young Writers, mums, dads, grannies and library staff. Well - what can I say! My last session at the library on Saturday turned into quite an occasion and I cannot find the words to express my extreme thanks and gratitude for all your wonderful gifts, flowers and cards. I knew you would all come up with something but I did not expect anywhere as much as that; you truly spoiled me!
I just wanted to tell you all again what an absolute privilege it has been for me to run Addiscombe Young Writers for six years. When I started it back in 2012 I had no idea it would run for so long; I figured a year or two, maybe three at most, and I was surprised and delghted when we got to our fifth anniversary last year, so if I hadn't been moving this year, it begs the question - how much longer could it have run for?
In all honesty, I had felt as 2018 began that I was kind of starting to run out of ideas to keep the group fresh. We had covered just about everything suitable for the 6 to 11 age group and it was getting harder and harder to keep it interesting without getting too repetitive so I am not sure how much longer it could have gone on. In a way, getting ready to move just helped with my decision to leave.
A number of you asked me on Saturday if I would keep the blog going and I was none too sure it would be a good idea. However Steve (he of the trophy dash) suggested I keep it going as a way for us all to stay in touch and that you might like to know how the move is and what I am up to with the writing, so I will give it another few months and see how we go. That is, if you want me to.
Thank you all again for everything. You all helped me on my journey as a writer, particularly a writer whose passion led to encouraging so many youngsters to pick up their pens and give ot a go. Let me know how you get on too. Love you all to bits!!!
Monday, 4 June 2018
Friday, 25 May 2018
Picnic in the Park is TOMORROW!!!
Don't forget that we have our Picnic in the Park session tomorrow (26th May) so bring along your snacks and drinks and meet me at the Library at 9.30. Parents are invited to stay for the full session. We won't be going back to the Library afterwards.
Also quick reminder that my last session as Facilitator is next Saturday, 2nd June, which is going to be quite an occasion. Sara, who faciltates the Chatterbooks group, is hoping to also be present that day so if you have any questions, she will be delighted to help. Plus there will be lots of Certificates, and work handed back and yummy CAKES for evryone to enjoy.
See you tomorrow then, same time, same place!
Also quick reminder that my last session as Facilitator is next Saturday, 2nd June, which is going to be quite an occasion. Sara, who faciltates the Chatterbooks group, is hoping to also be present that day so if you have any questions, she will be delighted to help. Plus there will be lots of Certificates, and work handed back and yummy CAKES for evryone to enjoy.
See you tomorrow then, same time, same place!
Monday, 14 May 2018
Booklet Coming Along ...
What started off as a Poetry Leaflet has evolved into a Poetry Booklet which, you will be pleased to hear, is almost finished. Can't wait to hand them out on 2nd June!
Just a quick reminder that there is no Young Writer session this Saturay (19th May) as I have another commitment, so I will see you all next Saturday (26th) for our Picnic in the Park session. Meet you at Ashburton Library at 9.30 as usual and we will set off for the park around ten minutes later.
Looking forward to seeing you then!
Just a quick reminder that there is no Young Writer session this Saturay (19th May) as I have another commitment, so I will see you all next Saturday (26th) for our Picnic in the Park session. Meet you at Ashburton Library at 9.30 as usual and we will set off for the park around ten minutes later.
Looking forward to seeing you then!
Thursday, 10 May 2018
Picnic in the Park Coming Up!
Hi everyone. Great session last Saturday! Good to see everyone getting really stuck into their story writing! The assignment set was to take everything we have looked at since starting on stories again and use it all to create a brand new story. And the Young Writers have plenty of time to do it because the next session is not until 26th May - which is also our Picnic in the Park day of course - so Mums, Dads and Grans, don't forget to fetch snacks and drinks along that day. We will meet at the library around 9.30 as usual then head over to Ashburton Park for an hour or so and grown ups are allowed to come along that day and enjoy the outdoors!
The Saturday after that is of course my last day. It is galloping towards us scarily fast but I am determined it will not be a sad day, nor will it be complete closure as I will still be contactible. And hopefully, Sara will be there on that day to answer any questions about Chatterbooks and the amalgamation and let you all know when the group starts up again.
I have told the Young Writers that they will all get certificates and awards that day and I will bring along some yummy stuff. The poetry leaflet will also be finished and everyone will get a copy of that so we will definitely end the session on a positive note.
Looking forward to seeing you all on 26th. Keep writing!
The Saturday after that is of course my last day. It is galloping towards us scarily fast but I am determined it will not be a sad day, nor will it be complete closure as I will still be contactible. And hopefully, Sara will be there on that day to answer any questions about Chatterbooks and the amalgamation and let you all know when the group starts up again.
I have told the Young Writers that they will all get certificates and awards that day and I will bring along some yummy stuff. The poetry leaflet will also be finished and everyone will get a copy of that so we will definitely end the session on a positive note.
Looking forward to seeing you all on 26th. Keep writing!
Thursday, 3 May 2018
So Much To Do - So Little Time!
Hi everyone. I have just spent a very enjoyable (and infuriating) couple of hours putting the poetry leaflet together. It is looking quite good already and one more sheet of short poems should just about do it so watch this space!
It is hard to believe that after this week's session, there will only be two sessions left for me. The Chatterbooks group will be relaunched in September so the members could have quite a long break this year; which will give them all the more time to write, write, write. Don't forget that, even after I have moved on, you and our young pensmiths can still keep in touch. I will probably launch a different blog once I leave because it is still my dream to bring Creative Writing to more children, even if I can only do so online. Anyway, we shall see. Let me get the move out of the way first. Hopefully by 2019, I will be in a better position!
In keeping with the Stories theme, I will be reminding the Young Writers this week of the need of a good opening as well as a good ending and also how best to use description to help the story move along.
Don't forget that after this Saturday there will be a three week gap because of personal commitments and that the session on 26th May will be our Picnic in the Park session (weather permitting of course), so don't forget to bring along your drinks and snacks; I will provide the outdoors work sheets and pens etc.
My final session will be on 2nd June and I will bring along some celebratory cakes that day and special certificates for all the members as well as the completed poetry leaflets so it will be a busy old morning.
In the meantime I look forward to seeing you all this Saturday, May 5th. Bye for now.
It is hard to believe that after this week's session, there will only be two sessions left for me. The Chatterbooks group will be relaunched in September so the members could have quite a long break this year; which will give them all the more time to write, write, write. Don't forget that, even after I have moved on, you and our young pensmiths can still keep in touch. I will probably launch a different blog once I leave because it is still my dream to bring Creative Writing to more children, even if I can only do so online. Anyway, we shall see. Let me get the move out of the way first. Hopefully by 2019, I will be in a better position!
In keeping with the Stories theme, I will be reminding the Young Writers this week of the need of a good opening as well as a good ending and also how best to use description to help the story move along.
Don't forget that after this Saturday there will be a three week gap because of personal commitments and that the session on 26th May will be our Picnic in the Park session (weather permitting of course), so don't forget to bring along your drinks and snacks; I will provide the outdoors work sheets and pens etc.
My final session will be on 2nd June and I will bring along some celebratory cakes that day and special certificates for all the members as well as the completed poetry leaflets so it will be a busy old morning.
In the meantime I look forward to seeing you all this Saturday, May 5th. Bye for now.
Thursday, 26 April 2018
Still Thriving...
Such a relief that fourteen children came along to last Saturday's session (including two newbies, so welcome to Shaun and Jack). Having announced my departure in June, I rather expected all my regulars to give up on the group and abandon it so I was very pleased to see so many of you there; huge thanks to you all.
We continued to work on story writing, and on this occasion, I was demonstrating one particularly effective way to create convincing characters to give their stories even more oomph. They adapted this so well that many then showed me characters they had invented that actually sounded like people they knew! This just goes to show that there is a natural writer in each and every one of these children and I do so hope that they will continue to nuture this long after I have moved to the south coast! I know Sara will do her best so please support her the way you have supported me all these years.
Addiscombe Young Writers is something of an anomaly really. When I started it six years ago, I really had no idea how I was going to make it work and in my haste to put together a manual for Sara, I have come up with some astonishing factoids.
* Approximately 150 children have been members.
* There has been one exhibition of work.
* Two books produced.
* Close on 500 certificates awarded.
* Five picnics in the park.
* Around twelve children have been presented with books designed to help them hone their craft.
* Approximately 200 exercise books have been given out.
* There's been two group mascots.
* An estimated 300 work and exercise sheets have been produced.
And that isn't all by a long shot.
I am so proud of you all, children and grown-ups alike and very proud indeed of everything the group has achieved.
See you all on 5th May.
We continued to work on story writing, and on this occasion, I was demonstrating one particularly effective way to create convincing characters to give their stories even more oomph. They adapted this so well that many then showed me characters they had invented that actually sounded like people they knew! This just goes to show that there is a natural writer in each and every one of these children and I do so hope that they will continue to nuture this long after I have moved to the south coast! I know Sara will do her best so please support her the way you have supported me all these years.
Addiscombe Young Writers is something of an anomaly really. When I started it six years ago, I really had no idea how I was going to make it work and in my haste to put together a manual for Sara, I have come up with some astonishing factoids.
* Approximately 150 children have been members.
* There has been one exhibition of work.
* Two books produced.
* Close on 500 certificates awarded.
* Five picnics in the park.
* Around twelve children have been presented with books designed to help them hone their craft.
* Approximately 200 exercise books have been given out.
* There's been two group mascots.
* An estimated 300 work and exercise sheets have been produced.
And that isn't all by a long shot.
I am so proud of you all, children and grown-ups alike and very proud indeed of everything the group has achieved.
See you all on 5th May.
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Wonderful Stories Just Waiting To Be Written!
I cannot believe it has been almost two weeks since my last post! Where has that time gone? Even I was taken by surprise when I woke up this morning (Wednesday) and realised that it is only a couple of days until the next Young Writer session! So, as promised in my previous post, here is an update of what we are now doing.
After months of patient poetry writing, there was an audible sigh of relief from the Young Writers when I confirmed a return to story writing. I gave out two info sheets - one was a general guide to the nuts and bolts of actually writing and the other gave a number of ideas for the Young Writers to work with. It was wonderfully refreshing to see how quickly they took to the suggestions made - especially considering that the first half hour of the session was given over to announcing the forthcoming changes due to my move with Steve to the south coast later this year.
Story writing is a bit like baking a cake. You need a number of carefully balanced ingredients in order to produce a finished masterpiece. In this case, instead of sugar, flour, eggs etc, you need a good opening sentence, a couple of well rounded characters, some descriptive scenery and, of course, an idea to expand on. Once that is all in the mix, the actual cake is the finished story and the icing on that cake is knowing others will read and enjoy that story. The cherry on top is obviously if people ask to see even more of your work. The cake analogy has always worked well with the Young Writers, even the youngest ones. After all, we all love a slice of delicious cake!
Writing is a wonderful gift and with stories, you are the master (or mistress) of your own universe. You create the places and situations and you people it with characters you have created. This is so magical and so beautiful. It does not matter one jot if you mix famous characters of history with creatures of your own invention as long as the story carries both along to a successful and relative conclusion. The only trap I occasionally see our young wordsmiths fall into is the use of other people's characters. Including Spiderman and Wonder Woman in your own story is fine at this level. But it is always better to go with your own ideas. Tyler, for example, has invented a durable super hero called The Shadow. He has even given back story on how The Shadow comes into being. Tyler also knows that short, sharp sentences build tension and whenever I read one of his Sci-Fi creations, I feel rather like I am on an extreme rollercoaster ride! And the beauty of it is that Tyler did not even know he was doing this; it has just come naturally to him because of the kind of stories he prefers to write!
Every member of Addiscombe Young Writers, past and present, has their own voice. Creating stories and poetry is a way to make it heard. And that, mums and dads, is the most important thing of all!
See you all Saturday!
After months of patient poetry writing, there was an audible sigh of relief from the Young Writers when I confirmed a return to story writing. I gave out two info sheets - one was a general guide to the nuts and bolts of actually writing and the other gave a number of ideas for the Young Writers to work with. It was wonderfully refreshing to see how quickly they took to the suggestions made - especially considering that the first half hour of the session was given over to announcing the forthcoming changes due to my move with Steve to the south coast later this year.
Story writing is a bit like baking a cake. You need a number of carefully balanced ingredients in order to produce a finished masterpiece. In this case, instead of sugar, flour, eggs etc, you need a good opening sentence, a couple of well rounded characters, some descriptive scenery and, of course, an idea to expand on. Once that is all in the mix, the actual cake is the finished story and the icing on that cake is knowing others will read and enjoy that story. The cherry on top is obviously if people ask to see even more of your work. The cake analogy has always worked well with the Young Writers, even the youngest ones. After all, we all love a slice of delicious cake!
Writing is a wonderful gift and with stories, you are the master (or mistress) of your own universe. You create the places and situations and you people it with characters you have created. This is so magical and so beautiful. It does not matter one jot if you mix famous characters of history with creatures of your own invention as long as the story carries both along to a successful and relative conclusion. The only trap I occasionally see our young wordsmiths fall into is the use of other people's characters. Including Spiderman and Wonder Woman in your own story is fine at this level. But it is always better to go with your own ideas. Tyler, for example, has invented a durable super hero called The Shadow. He has even given back story on how The Shadow comes into being. Tyler also knows that short, sharp sentences build tension and whenever I read one of his Sci-Fi creations, I feel rather like I am on an extreme rollercoaster ride! And the beauty of it is that Tyler did not even know he was doing this; it has just come naturally to him because of the kind of stories he prefers to write!
Every member of Addiscombe Young Writers, past and present, has their own voice. Creating stories and poetry is a way to make it heard. And that, mums and dads, is the most important thing of all!
See you all Saturday!
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