ONLINE 5-week Short Course: Writing for Children (Sept 2022)

With Leila Rasheed

Tuesdays, 7-9pm, live teaching via Zoom

Starting 13 September, then 20, 27 September, 4 and 11 October 2022.

Join our online classroom and learn to write for children and engage your young readers over five sessions. These live, interactive online classes will introduce you to the industry, and allow you to learn the skills necessary to write for children and young adults.

You should leave:

• knowing what matters most in children’s and young adult literature today,

• understanding your audience and how to maximise your chances of getting published

• having tried out writing exercises to create characters and plots for children’s literature.

The first hour will be a presentation on the week’s topic, including analysis of excellent examples of writing for different age groups. Each session will take examples from different age groups so you can see what they have in common and what is different. There will be a 5-10 minute comfort break followed by, in the second hour, a writing or reflective exercise, and time for questions.

This small and friendly group of up to 14 students will allow you to ask questions, and feel comfortable and familiar with the group.

No prior writing experience or knowledge of writing for children is necessary.

Biography:

Leila Rasheed is the author of fifteen children’s books and short stories, most recently EMPIRE’S END (Scholastic, 2020, shortlisted for the Tower Hamlets book award) and the AT SOMERTON historical YA romance series (Hyperion, 2021). She runs Megaphone Writers C.i.c. which provides writer development for people of colour writing for children and teenagers. She taught writing for children at the University of Warwick for several years, and since then has worked with many emerging writers individually and in small groups to bring their writing to the best possible level, including Danielle Jawando and Maisie Chan.

Details:

The workshop will take place online via Zoom Online Meeting software. It is free to download and you will only need the free version to attend. Please download it and check it is working before the day of the workshop.

Please try and be somewhere you can concentrate and won’t be interrupted. Headphones can be useful if you have some, to cut out other noise.

Short courses 2022:

We are running a mix of short courses and workshops online and in person, so you can choose to attend the session you are the most comfortable with.

All our short courses and workshops are priced at £15 per taught hour.

We understand that not all writers are able to pay for their writing courses to further their career, and we run a Bursary Scheme as a consequence. If you feel you need a bursary, please contact us: info@writingwestmidlands.org.

Please note: you must sign up for the full course even if you cannot attend all dates. No partial course ticket is available.

Short Courses are for over 18s. If you are a young writer, you can sign up for our Spark Young Writers Programme.

All Writing West Midlands short courses are collaborative, and you will learn as much from your fellow course attendees as from the tutor. You will be expected to play an active role in group tasks, and you will also have time to reflect on your own writing during sessions.

Course handouts are sometimes (but not always) available, and notes may be available in advance upon request. If you have any additional needs, please contact Writing West Midlands in advance of the course starting and we will try to assist you.