40 Orange School Children get to write with author Dawn Meredith

Hey guys!

I just got back from Orange NSW where I ran writing workshops for 40 children in years 4,5 & 6 from 9 different schools. What a fabulous bunch of kids! they ALL produced amazing work and had fun doing it.

In session one we talked about how a book is created and the publishing process, how illustrators and authors work together, how long it takes for a book to be released.

We workshopped on creating fun and random characters, how each character must have a dearest wish (motivation) and push through obstacles to make it come true. We talked about plot and character arcs. We speculated about 'evil dudes' and some of the ideas that came up were truly creepy!

 Then in session two we worked on proofreading and editing, what makes a sentence a real sentence and how to create a 'hook' in the very first line of the story. We filled in more details on the character profile sheet and began writing the real thing.

 I was so impressed with how well behaved the students were and the quality of the writing they produced. I'm really looking forward to reading the finished stories! Then I shall put them up on this blog.

I had the best time and loved it! Thanks for having me as your guest author. Thanks to The Australian Society of Authors and Karen Brill at Pre2 Learning for a well-run day.
cheers, Dawn