CLASS OBJECTIVES:

• Provide an overview of the variety of ways participants can write for children.
• Demonstrate and practice good revision principles.
• Focus on creating a picture book, begin or work on a chapter book.
• Discuss pathways to publication.

SESSION ONE:  Navigating the Wiki, Genres, Basic Writing Principles (2/18)

A. Introductions. What do you hope to write/work on in this class?

B. Tools: Day/note book. Jump drive.

C. Overview of Course

D. Genres 

E. General writing principles

a)  Learn from the masters

b)  Mine your own life

c)  Red pencil is your best friend

d)  Muscle words

d)  Show, Don't Tell

F. Wiki- ways to add files. 

    a) Create a Page. Copy/paste from Word

    b) Upload files (off of main Wiki page.)

    c) using a jump drive 

G. Jazz it Up Activity 

H. SCBWI -carolinas. SCBWI National. Critique groups. (SCBWI, Meet-Up)

SESSION TWO: Create & Name Your Character, POV (2/25)

A. Review uploading to wiki, Writing-Revising Cycle (red pencil is your best friend) Muscle Words,  Mining Your Life.

B. Our goal: Create characters that we/our readers care about. 

C. FAST Principle-

     Feelings

     Actions

     Speech

     Thoughts

D. Learn from Literature

E. Creating your Character's biography

F. Naming Your Character 

G. POV (Point of View)

SESSION THREE: Set the Scene, Tenses (3/4)

A. SETTING

1. Consider how a character moves through a place. Interacting with it. How does the character use or change the space? How is the character changed by the setting? 

2. Mine your life- places you have been that have evoked a feeling, or not. Why was it memorable?

3. Think sensory:

1)    tactile

2)   smell

3)   visual

4)    auditory

5)    taste- hardest to do.

4. Setting reflects mood- what could happen here? 

5. Keep in mind: you’re not going to get it absolutely right the first time! Gush it out. Play later.

6. Your Turn!  Indoor/outdoor brainstorming.

B. TENSES

1. Present

2. Past

SESSION FOUR:  Getting started with Conflict & Plot  (3/11)

A. Plan your character's problem

--internal conflict.  Something of a moral nature. What does he/she desire? what will govern her choices and cause her to act in a certain way?

--external conflict:  A struggle that occurs between a character and outside forces (another character, society environment)

B. Plot Sentences "My story is about ____________, who more than anything wants ___________but can't because of ___________________."

C. Build-A-Plot 

SESSION FIVE:  Arc & Plot (3/18)

• The Hero's Journey 
• Working on your plot   
• Antagonists/Opponents
• Scenes 

SESSION SIX: Author visit with Emily Pearce. (3/25)

• Dialogue
• Developing your character's voice 
• Beginnings 
• Handling Flashbacks
• Research

In-class writing/feedback. 

SESSION SEVEN: Author visit with Tameka Brown.  (4/1)

Getting Published- Part I 

•  A TOUR OF SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators)

•   Manuscript formatting 

• Submission Guidelines

• Magazine Market

• So You Want To Write for kids 

• Titles 

SESSION EIGHT: Getting Published- Part II  (4/8)

•  
• Proposals, queries.

•  Publishing, Agents

• Self-publishing 

Q&A, Open- Mic