July 13-17: Ages 14 and up.
July 20-24: Ages 10-13.
9.30 – 12.30 daily
$150/week for first student; $140 for siblings
A while ago, I was talking to Sarah, the very nice Director of the very nice library at Rollinsford, NH. We talked creative writing – I’m doing an MFA, she has one already – and then I mentioned teaching creative writing to children over the summer. “We have a room here where you could do that,” she said, and showed me their Community Room. I loved it right away: it’s calm, light and spacious, perfect for gathering some enthusiastic students and helping them to have fun writing. So that is what I’m going to do.
For two weeks in July, I will be running morning creative writing camps, first for high school age students, and then for middle schoolers. They’re going to be small – at most 10 students in each one – and I hope they’ll be a lot of fun. I believe that writing should always be fun, and that’s the way I like to teach: making it stimulating, exciting, joyful. I want to show my students crazy new ways to get ideas, to set them irresistible challenges that make them leap into creativity, and to help them build a supportive, enthusiastic group that backs each other up all the way.
So – if you come, what will you actually do during my camps? Mainly, lots of practical writing exercises that make your imagination leap. We will work first of all on ways to get ideas – good ones, ones you just have to write. We’ll also do some work on how to make a good idea into a great one by the kinds of thinking and dreaming you can do before you even start to write.
When it comes to writing itself, we’ll do both short stories and poetry. We’ll look at how to make characters come alive, how to make plots that work, and how to actually write the tale skilfully, so that readers are hooked. In poetry we’ll look at how to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, using the special tools of poetry like line breaks and rhythm to help you, not get in the way.
Most of all, we’ll help each other, from ideas to final draft. We’ll say what we think a writer is doing really well, and help him or her get that little bit better every time. We’ll help you to redraft and polish to a dazzle!
Finally, there will be a chance to put your best work into a professionally-printed camp booklet. The afternoons are free so that, if you want to, you can add to and extend the work that you’ve done in the morning. Or, if you prefer, you can go to the beach!
So if you’re a kid who loves to write, or if you know of someone who does, please get in touch using the form below – or get your mom or dad to do it. I’ll be happy to answer any questions and tell you how to book. I’m excited about meeting you and guiding you through a week of great writing.