Stories are magical; we all know that. What is even more magical is when you can feel creative energy pulsing all around you and then see those ideas transforming into stories.Creative Writing with ChildrenYesterday, at The Story Station, I met a group of enthusiastic young children, bursting with ideas. One boy had made a list of ideas that he wanted to develop into stories. And as a writing exercise, he came up with a portal to Legoland!A six-year-old told me she wants to write scary stories. Her first story was about Nina and the monster under her bed. The second was about falling through a wall into a place where it was Halloween! Terrified of a skeleton there, she ran back through the wall to safety.Yes, she is six (okay, six and a half, she would insist) years old, and yes, she wrote it right there in front of me during my workshop.Creative writing workshops … [Read more...]
What if …?
I love 'what ifs'.What if there's another me on the other side of the mirror?What if a half-boy-half-deer wanted to fit in?What if someone experimented with smells and could create them?What if an old Bajaj scooter began to fly?These were some of the what-ifs that inspired the stories in The Story-Catcher. What-ifs can go anywhere. We don't need to rein them in and pull them back.And so, during creative writing workshops, I love to see where they can take us. Here's what a few children came up with yesterday.I love 'What if all my what ifs came true'! What's your favourite?The children then went on to write poems called 'What if', which were delightful. They played with opposites and humour, as well as beauty.What if a boy could become a girl? What if a speck of dust was as precious as a pearl?Aren't ideas magical?What's next?The Lit Bug Fest, … [Read more...]