In our everyday lives, we use our five senses – touch, smell, hearing, sight and taste – but when we write characters, we sometimes forget that to make them real, they too need to do this. When we do this we make our characters real people who have a presence in our work, rather than them lying flat on the page.
In this workshop we will look through examples of writing that illustrate this well, and then we will create a character/characters and scenes working toward making our writing really sense-ational. By doing this you will also engage the five senses of your reader giving them a rewarding reading experience.
Nailing the Nano!
So what’s a nano and how do we nail it?
A nano , or a nano story, is a tiny story – in this case 50 words that we’ll write together in just half an hour. We’ll start with a prompt, brainstorm it for a few minutes, and then we’ll write. You can write it as a short, short story or as a poem or even a rap.
Year 11 and 12 Creative Writing Tutoring – coming soon
School Workshops
The Make Your Writing Sense-ational and Nailing the Nano are available for schools. Workshops can also be tailored to meet your students’ needs. For full details and pricing contact me here.
Testimonials
Anne McLean, former Manager, Schools Engagement, Western Sydney University
Robyne Young ran engaging and innovative writing workshops for three of our Schools Engagement programs in 2014 and 2015. The workshops catered for school students of different ages and backgrounds. All of them built students’ writing skills, giving them fresh perspectives and practical tips for sparking ideas, creating believable characters and story construction. In our Young Writers’ Day program, Robyne taught talented year 10 and 11 writers, delivering two workshops each year. Feedback included “I found it very creative and engaging”, “Excellent workshop”, “Great in raising awareness of the senses when writing”, “Very helpful workshop for improving writing skills”, “I loved it” and “It was well presented”.
In 2014 Robyne also designed and delivered well-received workshops for year 9 and 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in our Pathways To Dreaming program, and year 5-8 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in our Koori Bridges program. Robyne is an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and empathetic teacher.
Jess Zuber, Young People’s Library Officer, Wodonga Library
What a pleasure it was to have Robyne Young present her writing workshops at Wodonga Library during our Book Week activities. Students from multiple schools and age groups were engaged and inspired to create wonderful masterpieces through each session. Robyne instilled a love for creative writing through imagination and modelling in even the most reluctant writers.