The Blank Page

"Freedom is … the right to write the wrong words" – Patti Smith

  • Make yourself at home

    I’ve had lots of emails this week from people saying they’re considering starting up a group, which I am THRILLED about!

    Some start up advice: I think it’s great when the kids feel that the club is ‘their’ club. It’s hard to freely express yourself if you don’t feel comfortable and in control. It’s like trying to relax in someone else’s house. So I think it’s lovely for kids to feel that the club is their ‘tribe’. It makes the members closer friends, and I know our group has become a safe space for some of them where they can be themselves in a way they don’t feel comfortable being in school, and that’s an incredible gift to give anyone.

    So here are some ways you can encourage the kids to take ownership of the group:

     

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  • First Lines and Free Loot! (how’s that for alliteration?)

    Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and that there were lots of New Year’s resolutions along the lines of ‘Will start a creative writing club in school.’

    Today I have another quick conversation starter based on the opening lines of books. But first, now that we’re all settled back into the new term (no? Still eating chocolate Santas in your PJs? Is that just me?) can I let everyone know that I have some shiny (and free) resource packs to send out to schools for their writing groups!

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  • Author Bios and Other Works of Fiction

    For a bit of light relief at Christmas, you could try this exercise I put together for the writers I work with. We had a lot of fun with it:

    Pretend you’re writing the author bio for your first novel or short story or poem. You’ll find an author bio in every book and it’s a little known fact that, although the bio is written in the 3rd person, the writer usually has to write it themselves. It can be serious or not so serious. Naturally, I like the funny ones best and I’ve included some of my favourite examples below. Several of them are by Terry Pratchett, because he is the KING of this.

    Sir Terry

    Author bios tend to follow a rough pattern:

The Blank Page was created by Kelly McCaughrain, Children’s Writing Fellow for NI (2019-2021), as a support and resource for Librarians and Teachers running Creative Writing Groups in post-primary schools.

To read all the posts from the beginning, click here.

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