Is there a novel inside of you waiting to break free? Do you have a long list of characters clamoring for a story? Come and join fellow enthusiastic young writers in a two-week workshop to develop your ideas. We will take inspiration from favorite authors, studying technique and style to further inform our own writing. Mornings will be filled with short bursts of reading, various writing exercises, and sharing. Your afternoons will be more concentrated on the writing of your choice, focused on beginning or continuing your novel. There will be the potential for a blog to continue our conversations beyond the two week course. Be ready to read, provide and accept feedback, and write, write, write!

In the mornings, we will read mentor texts and do writing exercises.

For  example, we might:

•      look at popular mentor texts of good writing

•      write short vignettes based on the "Significant Object Project" for inspiration

•      use NaNoWriMo's "Young Novelist Workbook" for brainstorming and developing ideas

•      practice writing through daily exercises on character development, plot, dialogue, and conflict

•      peer/teacher conference

The afternoons will be spent working on individual student writing of choice. In addition, we'll link to various media to enhance our process and product! We will possibly:

•       create book talks/ video trailers for student stories

•      use computers to design a book jacket or electronic poster (Glogster) or Animoto video advertising a favorite book as well as their own novels

 About the Instructor: In her fifteen years at Applewild School, Jennifer Caldwell has taught students in grades 4-8 and currently teaches English and Drama to students in grades 6-8. She also heads the English Department. Jennifer graduated from Kenyon College with a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, and in Studio Art, and from Lesley University with a M.Ed. She loves to write and is looking for a good excuse to lose track of time while deep in thought.