2024 First Class

There are my notes to myself for the first writing workshop of the summer last year. The workshop this year will run from 7/14 to 7/31, Mondays and Thursdays from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm:

Things (for me) to bring:

  1. Writing Magic and Writer to Writer
  1. this page!
  1. Pad
  1. WELCOME!
  • My phone #, email address. Don’t share. Website, can share. Take a screen shot.
  • My name & pronouns. Intro Jen and Debbie

Go around & say pronoun, what grades they’re going into. What do they hope to get out of summer? Say if it’s more than writing better, if there’s something partic you want. Poetry possible. Tell everyone: If you could time travel to the past or future, when in the past or how far in the future would you visit? Why?

  • How c we make it better? You can say it out loud or email me.
  • Ask if any will miss ½ summer.  If they don’t like it, not forced to stay. How much will they miss?
  1. How many like to write poems?  Read poems? How many prefer story-writing to poetry?  How many vice-versa?  How many equal?
  • Keep what you’ve written, and keep in mind that we want a collection by the end of the summer. I’ll expect you to email in something after the fifth week for copying for the sixth week.
  • about homework. Don’t have to do it, but if they do, will get benefit of my editing. They can do the week’s assignment or keep going with something they started in the workshop. Don’t submit something you wrote for school, and no AI. I’ll get it back to you but maybe not instantly. Email to me as Word or Google doc. If it’s a google doc, give me permission to edit. Due by Wednesday at noon.
  • email me if you want to set up a time for an individual meeting.
  • can drink something, but no food. No lying in bed, unless you’re sick.
  • How vocab works. Do not look up! Type in chat meaning and part of speech. What does part of speech mean? lycanthropy

PRONUNCIATION:

(ly-KAN-thruh-pee)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A delusion that one has transformed into a wolf.
2. The process of or ability to transform into a wolf.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek lykos (wolf) + -anthropy (human). Earliest documented use: 1584.

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Prompts. Discuss

Homework. Discuss. Remind them when it’s due.

24 Responses on “2024 First Class”

  1. Isabelle Knight says:

    Oh wow! I’d love to join the workshop – it sounds fantastic! 🙂 Sadly, I’m on the other side of the world, so 1:30 to 3 PM is pretty much impossible for me. O.O But nonetheless, I shall be writing, and I wish you the best of luck with this summer workshop!!!! It sounds absolutely fantastic!!

  2. Arisole says:

    That sounds fun! Everyone will appreciate your help and the time you give.:):) Good luck! Young writers need support because they feel intimidated by all the adult writers in the world.

  3. Karleigh N. says:

    I also wish I could join your workshop. But I have lots of people who encourage me to write and help me. I will continue on writing, though, and hopefully eventually get published;) good luck with your writing! I need to start writing again. But unfortunately I just finished the hunger games trilogy and am too busy obsessing over it and don’t write. I’m trying to get started again:D

    • Isabelle Knight says:

      I agree with Christie!!! You could always practice writing with some Hunger Games fanfiction! And besides, it’s great practice for writing especially since you can try working on keeping character personalities consistent! And you also get to obsess over a book series you love. 😀

      • Karleigh N. says:

        Yeah, I’ve already started to plan some THG fanfic, but literally I am not good at writing at all. And my fanfic would be super lame and prob something someones already written 🙁

        • Isabelle Knight says:

          Hey, don’t say that! If you want to be a writer and if writing brings you joy, THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS. All writers started out as… well, not quite as good as writing as they are today! The first draft of Enchantria: Guardian’s Heir was…. well, I have not been able to bring myself to look back. But I’ll say this — the writing is cringy. The character actions are so random. The dialogue is SO on the nose. There were twists and clues and ominous riddles that made absolutely NO SENSE at all. The middle was saggy. Lots of things made no sense at all. And yet it still held that spark of a story!! Don’t stress too much about unique ideas – this is just a fanfiction that you can use to practice writing!! And when it comes to actually writing, I’ll tell you that most of my books started off as complete ripoffs of another book. But as I started writing them, I pulled ideas from lots of different places and through editing and drafting and revision, it became something beautiful!! And I have no doubt that the same thing shall happen to you! ^^ I believe in you! You can do this!!!!!!!

          • Karleigh N. says:

            Thanks! You’re so nice, and positive. I will try as hard as I can to not try to care what other people think. Thanks again!

        • Christie V Powell says:

          Brandon Sanderson pointed out that when guys go out and play basketball, no one expects them to sign up for the NBA. It’s perfectly okay to write just for yourself. No one accuses a pianist of wasting time if they’re playing in an empty room. Practice is essential for growth. Writing is inherently valuable even if you never show anyone else a word. It teaches you to think and express yourself, as well as developing communication skills that are a huge assent in today’s world where a lot of our communications are text-based. So go ahead and write the lame, not good, unoriginal story in your head. Even if it turns out terrible, you’ve accomplished something. And you may prove yourself wrong!

  5. Isabelle Knight says:

    I need some help… I’m currently working on my WIP, Island Keepers, but the problem is that I’m stuck. Stuck in the muddy, soggy, groggy, messy middle, and I really have absolutely no idea where the story is going to go. I want to tighten the plot and all that and just make sure the story structure’s all well and neat and doesn’t drag, but I really am struggling quite a bit. Any tips? Thanks!!

    • Arisole says:

      I think I said this before but it is helpful : Mabie make a flow chart of middles middlish endings and endings. Or try to add some I-SO-did-not-see-that-coming twists. Good luck!

    • Christie Valentine Powell says:

      I break up the middle into chunks–usually 4 chunks. There’s a midpoint in the very center with some big change for the characters. (Example-Aladdin meets the genie and switches from underdog to guy in charge). Then on either side of it, you have a pinch point where the antagonist inserts itself and reminds everyone of the stakes (examples: Disney’s Aladdin gets trapped in the cave by Jafar for the first one and is thrown into the sea for the second). For me, I tend to have about three chapters in between each of those three points, but the length doesn’t matter as long as they are roughly the same.

      • Evelyn says:

        Wow, I’ve never thought about middles that way before – that’s such a simple and fantastic way to do them!

  6. Karleigh N. says:

    I always get stuck in middles too! I try to imagine an ending, and think about how I could get there, while making it interesting. You could also create a new character and try to figure out how you could put him/her into the story. Hope this helps!

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