Young Writers Workshops
Morning Offerings
- Poetry Workshop: Young poets will explore traditional and nontraditional poetic forms, learn about the elements of poetry and workshop their own poems with other young writers and WCSU faculty.
- The Novel: Using a variety of writing exercises, this workshop will provide an overview of what you need to know to write a novel. The workshop will explore the craft of writing and provide guidance on developing an ongoing writing practice. Participants will also learn how and where to market their work.
- Screenwriting Workshop: This workshop offers a hands-on experience in dramatic writing for stage and screen. The unique formats, plotting, character development and pacing of each medium will be explored. Students will have the opportunity to write their own Webisodes (6 to 8 minute short films for digital media) and/or a Ten Minute play culminating in Cold Readings.
- Sports Writing: Writers will take part in all aspects of what it takes to be a sports writer. They will learn to work on deadline, compose feature stories, improve interviewing skills, and write game stories. Students will be exposed to professional models as well writing original stories.
Afternoon Offerings
- The Short Story: Short fiction, micro-fiction, or flash fiction is all the rage. In this workshop, students will discover flash fiction by writing it through creative exercises and timed writing sessions. We will also explore the roots of flash fiction in Aesop’s Fables. What’s more, students will write a complete short shorty in one thousand or fewer words.
- Fantasy/Science Fiction: Writers will learn how to merge the skills of a fiction writer with the ability to make the imagined seem real. Through this workshop, participants will learn about character and plot development, description, dialogue, and theme. Participants will also learn how and where to market their work.
- Songwriting Workshop: Learn how to write song lyrics in traditions ranging from the folkies to the rockers to the rappers. Use rhyme without clichés. Find out how to write a song that will stick in listeners' minds and maybe become a hit record!
- Online Publishing: Writers will learn about the principles and practices of online journalism, including writing and editing for online media; gathering and editing images, audio and video for online use; and legal and ethical issues facing online journalists.
