Creative Writing Workshop 2013 – Day 5

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We have been at our Thought to Print workshop for 5 sessions now.

We wrote quite extensively today, shaping our thoughts to ensure that our young writers connect with their inner voices.

But we also had loads of imaginative fun. I hold the theory that all forms of language support each other very powerfully and this has been an important part of our design at the workshop.

We had a role play today which was such fun because every one got into character so beautifully. We crowned Francesca, Queen of Bookworm, sat her on a throne and even got her a staff all of her own, made of paper. She wore a cloak and found a haughty voice and we were off.. scrambling on a book hunt to please the Queen.

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The children make me so glad. They are spontaneous, got into the act, bowing and curtseying, saying wonderful parts like ” What can I do for you your Majesty?” and the like.

From high up in a castle I raced them to our own world in Goa, where we played a game about the sights one might see in Goa and off we trooped to our desks and Bindi Su.

This is a BW book, a good book of course, but I feel a book that is used to its maximum potential because we created it with Milan. A book that has all the potential of a good picture book, drawing the reader in , loads of fascinating animals and sights that allowed us to think of plot, characters, settings, sequence and then the ending.

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I am often surprised by the creative energy that surges out of children when the stimulants are right. At this workshop we have so many high moments I worry that they may be too many. I think all the children ended their stories originally and creatively.

We were ready for our collaborative game. I have observed that Eva loves trees, as I do. A tree for me is a primal symbol and everything can start from there. So after a brief look – out from the BW verandah at trees and the possibilities , we played our table game. It was amazing.

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We then sat down to write our stories allowing the inspiration to come from our collaborative illustration and our minds. The stories were authentic and the creative minds of all our participants were alight.

I forget that most of them are just 7 years old, they write so well and it has been such a joy to write, read and think with them.

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I look forward to tomorrow, when we try and collaboratively put our writing together into some form and individually talk and write about what we learnt in this week together.

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