Talking to students about writing is one of my most favourite activities. I enjoy sharing my
experience but mostly, I love sharing knowledge about writing.
Since speaking at Good Hope Seminary School, I have refined a workshop on a Slice of Life
Story where I show learners how to develop a full character and how that character can
show up in their story. I would challenge some of the scenarios they develop to illustrate how
small, ordinary details about a character can add depth.
Open Book Youth Fest invited me to speak at Modderdam High School and I did the
workshop there, as well as at Blasc Academy after their English teacher reached out to ask if
I would do a workshop with the senior grades.
It has been wonderful and fascinating to see the characters the learners have in their
arsenal, as well as the kind of scenarios they put these imaginary people in. What surprises
me is how into the task they get!
I love every second of showing learners the possibilities out there, writing being one we’re
not often shown or offered as a choice when we finish high school. But, I want them to know
they can be writers, that they already have so much experience to draw on because no one
knows what it’s like to be them and live their lives in the places they occupy.