He really enjoyed it ... he came away feeling great!" ~ Mum to Bertie, aged 8
Why start a creative writing club?
I've been planning a writing club for children for years (it's not procrastination, it's timing, honest!) Ever since I started tutoring adults, I knew there was fun to be had doing essentially the same thing, but with kids. They have all the best ideas after all!
Ideas Club (as it was then) was seeded, but it wasn't until the joys of the pandemic that I began to realise the need for helping children find their creative spark. It was hard enough to find my own - I struggled to write, I wasn't getting out and about and talking to people, and I wasn't experiencing things - all the great stuff that helps brains be inspired.
I ran a couple of online sessions with some willing volunteers (thanks guinea pigs of 3KR, as was!) which was a great start, but I also had Zoom fatigue! As soon as in-person clubs started running again, I knew it was time. Ideas Club got a rebrand and a handy tie-in with my Milton books!
StorySpinners was born!
The in-person sessions will be a combination of established tutoring and the workshops that I run in schools as part of my author events. They will be fun, energetic, and probably loud! I want to show the children the power of creative thinking (we'll do some writing, across the eight weeks, but that won't be the focus) and how it can help them become more confident, self-assured, and more able to express their own ideas.
Each week, I'll start the session by reading aloud from a book related to the topic we'll be covering, and after that, we'll move on to games, discussion, and creating.
Sure, there are rules
But there are only three, and we'll remind ourselves of these each week too:
Listen to others' ideas
Be respectful of others' ideas
Not everyone has to join in. And that's OK
Get involved
If you'd like to follow up on the StorySpinners sessions, help promote creative writing at home, or just join in yourself, I'll be posting regular updates and resources, here on the blog, so be sure to bookmark the page.
You can also sign up to my author mailing list, where you'll get all sorts of bonus challenges, subscriber-only content, and news.
Eventually, StorySpinners will also have a digital counterpart, so it will be available all over the world!
If you'd like to know more, get in touch here
Until the next time,
Happy creating!
I loved how there were activities, and reading and there was lots of joining in" ~ Eleanor, aged 11
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