PCWAC115 - Teen Writing II

Course Description

This five-day workshop is for teens (grades 8 through 12) who are advanced creative writers and/or have completed Teen Writing I and are eager to take a deeper dive into writing fiction. Each day, participants will begin with a different group writing activity designed to develop a particular area of storytelling, such as world-building and revising. Writers will set a personal story goal for the week and will have time to work on their stories every day. The final hour of each meeting will be for sharing and feedback. Participants are encouraged (but not required) to share their writing with the group for positive and constructive feedback from the instructor and their peers.

Stories and activities will be written using Google Docs, which allows the instructor and participants to leave comments on all stories. If the writer doesn’t have a Gmail account, the instructor will help set one up for use during this workshop. Writers who prefer to write by hand are welcome to do so.

This workshop is in offered in partnership with Writing Workshops Dallas.

Please note times are in Central Standard Time (CST).

Course Outline

Monday
Character Postulates. After a brief ice-breaker activity, the instructor will lead a discussion on what makes a protagonist feel “real.” Writers will participate in the character postulates activity, then work quietly on their own stories. In the final hour, writers will workshop their stories with the group.

Tuesday
World-building. The instructor will lead a discussion on the importance of world-building in any genre of fiction. After participating in a story annotation activity, writers will work quietly on their own stories. In the final hour, writers will workshop their stories with the group.

Wednesday
Revising and Editing. The instructor will check in on how close writers are to reaching their goals for the end of the week, then lead a discussion on the editorial process for authors. After a bookmap activity, writers will work quietly on their own stories. In the final hour, writers will workshop their stories with the group.

Thursday
Scenes and Traditions. The instructor will lead a discussion on scene transitions, using specific examples from a published novel. Students will experiment with writing different scene transitions in provided stories, as well as their own stories. In the final hour, writers will workshop their stories with the group.

Friday
Summary vs narration. The instructor will lead a discussion on the different between summary/exposition and narration, and provide examples of her own writing to illustrate the process of turning exposition into narrative fiction. After completing an exercise to practice writing stronger narration, students will work on their own stories and share in the final hour.

Notes

Recommendations

Online registration closes at noon 4 days prior to the start of the class.
For late registration options, please contact SMU College Prep at 214-768-2267 for assistance.