Creative Writing

Creative Writing, Creative Thinking Workshops:

Underpinning all of my workshops is the idea that the process of making a story has three phases; the thinking time, the writing time, and the looking back time (StoryMaker Catch Pack [CP] P39). We all want to see children confidently producing high quality writing, and this is of course dependent on many factors. Somerset Maugham once said, " There are three golden rules for successful writing, and nobody knows what they are." In other words, there is no magic wand or single strategy that will suddenly quantum-leap children’s writing to some new level of quality. However, many interventions are possible that can motivate children to walk along the road to mastery, and that is what my workshops endeavour to provide. The importance of application cannot be overemphasised (CP P51). Regularity of practice within a supportive learning environment, scaffolded by ‘menus of tasks’ that strategically increase the challenge but minimise the threat and stress of ‘getting it wrong’ is the most effective way I know to boost children’s creative writing capability. Thus, how you prepare for my workshops and what you do subsequently is key.

To maximise the impact of my workshops I suggest the following preparations:-

Be very clear about what you want the workshop to achieve, both within its own time-frame and in the longer term. Not all of the workshops result in a great deal of finished, polished writing by the end of the session. If you want plenty of written outcome please say so before the visit.

Create a sense of event around the workshops. I usually come to schools as a ‘visiting author’, not a teacher of writing. I believe it is very important for children to understand that writing ability is not some mysterious gift that only clever people have. It is a potential that we all possess, and it needs to be cultivated by a great deal of hard work. But it can – in fact it must – be fun. I will send display material prior to the visit and this is intended to create a sense of positive anticipation in the children as the visit draws near.

Part of my purpose is to communicate an attitude to the children. I call this ‘the creative attitude’ (CP P15). It underpins and powers every act of creative writing. As teachers you must embrace this attitude so that the children can model the behaviours it embodies. As J. M. Juran (founder of the Total Quality Management movement) has said, ‘Quality is a journey not a destination’. We all want to children to attain high levels of literacy and creative ability, but how we achieve it is crucial. I mention this point, and with some feeling, because on occasions teachers observing the sessions have failed to pick up ideas from the workshop activities that will lead to improvements in the quality of the children’s writing. Attending to this document and utilising the creative attitude (notice, question) for yourself during the sessions should overcome this problem.

My StoryMaker and other NEP books collectively contain over 200 activities and their variations for developing children’s creative writing ability. Many of these are ‘pen on paper’ activities and not ‘just’ about children being enthused or simply ‘having ideas’. Can I suggest that you review my published material as a way of drawing the greatest educational value from a visit?

What can be achieved in any workshop depends upon various factors. Many schools target a year group and want me to work with all of the classes in that year group during the day. This typically creates time slots of around one hour per class. A great deal can be accomplished in that time, but extended pieces of finished writing are not likely to be produced. The table below shows a modular approach to a visit. The activities listed work well with a whole class in a classroom setting. To some extent a mix-and-match approach can be taken depending on the time we have available.

Activity	Purpose	Description	Setup	Timeframe	Exepected Written Outcomes
Picture Exploration	To raise awareness of the creative attitude. To gather ideas for the basic elements of story construction; background, characters, storylines.	The whole class studies a picture and observes small details. Flipping a coin to answer yes / no questions generates many ideas for subsequent writing.	Either the whole class sitting around me. Or, if they have to be at their tables, an OHP will be needed please.	About one hour.	Brief rough notes.
6x6 Genre Grid	To create ‘seed thoughts’ for future stories. To create a structured storyline using a sequence of motifs (Zig Zag story game). To provide a strategy for creating future stories.	The whole class is involved in random selection of motifs from the grid, then systematically working through the grid.	As above.	About one hour. Note that either Picture Exploration or the 6x6 Genre Grid are used as starter activities.	Brief rough notes. However, if children work in smaller groups to play the Zig Zag story game after they have seen it demonstrated, they will produce more cohesive and extended notes and / or first draft stories. This will add a minimum of 30 minutes to the timeframe.
Discussion of Text	To sharpen children’s review and assessment skills of creative writing. To offer a highly scaffolded exercise to support less confident writers.	Either the whole class or groups review a story opening pertaining to one or other of the above activities. This has been deliberately written in a mediocre way, with various errors. Children discuss these and rewrite the page more effectively, then review their work.	An OHP for viewing the text, or copies of the text for use at table.	15-20 minutes for initial review. Up to 30 minutes for writing. 15-20 minutes for final review.	About one A4 sheet of considered writing, plus final review notes if required.
Writer’s Pie	To supply children with a strategy for reviewing and assessing their own writing and that of others. To emphasise that subjective assessments are also valid.	The class uses a ‘Writer’s Pie’ template that I provide and to assess various aspects of their own writing, or a piece of text such as that supplied in the Discussion of Text activity.	Children working at tables with copies of the Writer’s Pie template.	About 20 minutes to use the template. At least 30 minutes for rewriting example text, if required.	None in using the template per se. Brief notes if children explain and justify their assessments. Around one side of A4 if children rewrite sample text in light of their assessments.
Storylines	To offer a template that provides children with a way of planning stories incorporating a plot overview while highlighting a logical sequence of events.	The class uses a storyline template (perhaps in conjunction with other StoryMaker activities) to brainstorm, discuss and then construct a storyline in one or more levels of detail.	OHP to demonstrate the template. Children work at tables to discuss overviews, and then work with large (A1) sheets of paper to create their storylines.	About 20-30 minutes to create a sample storyline using the template. Another 30 minutes to allow children to construct their own storyline. Additional time if children are required to write their stories in greater detail (at the scene / paragraph levels) – or to write a first draft.	Storyline mind map as a whole class activity. Storyline mind map of individual stories. Scene and / or paragraph breakdown of individual stories. First draft stories.