I spent a lovely 50 minutes watching the recording from the “Writers” Class last week. It is a class that is very close to my heart as it was the very first Learn Laugh Play class that ran 3 years ago and I ran it myself. It was therefore really lovely to go back and see that although the children are different now, the passion for creative writing is very much still there! There are a couple of brilliant examples below of the students reading out their creative writing.
Susannah is so passionate about creative writing, and it didn’t take long to see that the students in the group are too!
There was a lovely activity where they were asked to read out (or type into chat) the first line of a book they were reading. The children then, given no context whatsoever, were to create their own opening few sentences for how they felt the book might start after such a first sentence.
What was lovely was that everyone was included and there really were no “right or wrong” answers. Susannah encouraged the children to read out their story openers if they wanted to but also had a great system set up, where if children who sent their work to her via the private message feature, she would know that although she was allowed to read it out for them, she wouldn’t disclose who had written it. It felt like a very safe and inclusive writing environment and there was plenty of opportunity for the students to chat about their writing and sharing their writing. Susannah was brilliant and finding something about every child’s work that she recognised as brilliant (and it was every time!) but also at gentle suggestions for how the students could develop their writing skills further.
I would say that if your teens love writing or they want to explore creative writing, this is a class where they will feel inspired to write but also safe to sit back and observe what everyone else is doing.
Final word from Susannah
I spoke to Susannah after the lesson and asked her describe the class in her own words and this is what she said.
In this class, we develop your creative writing skills so that you can create fantastic stories and brilliant compositions. The classes are fun, fast-paced and low pressure. Every week we consider a different genre - from poetry to comic stories, from memoir to historical fiction. All writers (and ideas) are welcome!Susannah
If your child attends either of the Writers sessions or any of Susannah’s other classes, we would love to know your thoughts, so please do comment below.