Tag Archives: writing camp

April 29, 2014 · 7:13 pm

Summer Camps 2014!

Hi everyone! I’ve got some information to share about the Summer Camps I will be teaching this year. Both camps will be held at my home on Salt Spring Island, just a five-minute drive south of Ganges.

Summer Writing Camp

ages 11-14
July 7 – 11
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
$175
(Early bird deal: $165 before June 20)

This was a big hit with participants last year. Story ideas, character development, plot structure, dialogue, setting, genre, theme, style, and much more! Discussions about favourite books and movies, vocabulary builders, technical tips, games, exercises and prompts. Whether you are working on a project and need a little advice or are looking for inspiration to get started, this camp is for you.

Bring your own lunch, notebook and pen. (Computers ok too.)

“It was so much fun – I learned so much and I’m actually writing the book I’ve been planning to write for a long time.” – Holly

IMG_0348

Junior Writers Camp

ages 8-10
July 14-18
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
$175
(Early bird deal: $165 before June 30)

For younger writers, this is a very active version of the older kids’ camp, focussing on games, exercises, and storytelling, with a bit of acting, art and puppetry thrown in for good measure.  We’ll make up crazy group stories and talk about our favourite books and movies. With a little less emphasis on actual words-on-paper than the older camp, this week is designed to get kids thinking about story, characters and plot in fun ways.

Bring your own lunch, notebook and pen. (Computers ok too.)

To register or find out more info, please drop me a line!

2 Comments

Filed under Writing Workshop

Tagged as , ,

July 3, 2013 · 2:35 am

Writing Skills – Necessary or Not?

ulq08843f2zfseul2ae5

Well, I come down firmly in the ‘necessary’ camp, as does the writer of this article: “Does it matter if students can’t write?”

I think writing skills are absolutely vital, which is why I decided to put together my Writing Camp for Kids. Vital, and not just for aspiring fiction writers either. The ability to write smoothly, persuasively and well will get a young person shortlisted for an awful lot of different jobs out there, especially if it’s as rare a skill as many are suggesting. If I needed to hire somebody and received one perfect cover letter and twenty half-arsed ones, I know who I’d be picking.

This article also touches on the fact that writing skills are substantially aided by voracious reading, which is a major premise of my school talks. I am of the firm belief that reading is the easy shortcut to learning grammar and spelling.

In my camp I plan to cover narrative structure but also the nuts and bolts of writing – punctuation, constructing a paragraph, presenting an argument, etc. But in an entertaining and fun way, of course. (!?) Right now I’m finding movie clips to illustrate many points, going to the old classics – Hitchcock, Hawks, Wilder, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz…

Less than a week until my first session starts!

1 Comment

Filed under Get Writing!

Tagged as