Creative Writing Workshops

Jess is available for creative writing workshops. These range from year 2 through to year 8.

As an author, parent and tutor who has been speaking in schools for over 10 years, Jess Black is passionate about teaching creative writing.  Jess has taught hundreds of writing workshops for kids and adults and knows how to make the process fun and engaging. Jess knows how to help students understand the balance between planning and writing, using character to drive story and helping tap into the imagination to come up with inventive plots. Jess helps students tap into their own lives and memories to create exciting stories that resonate.

A few examples of modules on offer - Creating Characters, The Craft of Story, Being Specific, Creating Rich Imagery, the Role of Humour and Suspense, Finding Ideas and What to do with them, Endings Matter, Importance of Editing.

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A few examples of workshops available -

 

Talks

Jess shares her own experience with writing plays, television scripts and books for children. She uses stories from her own life as a director, producer, writer, teacher and mother who has always championed stories for children. She shares her own tips and advice for creativity and story structure and empowers children to tell their own stories.

 

The Magic Door

Fantasy writing is a genre that children are naturally drawn to. In this workshop children can explore their own portal into a magic world through the device of a magic door. They will work on the world, the setting, characters, magical creatures and devices and how to make it back to their own world!

 

Get Smart

Behind every successful secret agent is a gadget genius. Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to invent three tools which could save the life of a spy. We'll then write a story where your secret agent needs to use each one!

Writing Effective Endings

A good story needs to be strong from the first line through to the final page. It’s all too easy to start strong with a great hook and an interesting set of characters, but then lose momentum along the way and stop short at the end. This workshop gives writers an understanding of various endings and how to choose the one with the most emotional impact.

 

Loud Macaws and Muddy Paws

Join Jess as she takes you on a rollicking journey to create stories about her favourite subject – animals! Discover how to inject humour, surprise, suspense and loving characters into your stories.

 

My Perfect Pet

Create the perfect pet. Just what is your perfect pet like? Do they have the head of a lion, the feet of a duck and the tail of a tiger? Can they run fast, are they cuddly, do they talk? In this fun writing workshop we’ll create a new type of animal species that perfectly matches your life and then we’ll write a story about them!

Overcoming Story Problems

Writers solve problems using words instead of numbers. But what to do when you don't know how to move the story forward or you hit a wall? This workshop gives you techniques to overcome writers block and solve story problems.

 

One Lost Bag

What would you do if you found a lost bag full of interesting objects and treasures? What clues could the contents tell you about the owner? Writers observe details about the world just like detectives. In this mystery writing workshop you’ll create characters, describe settings, plot an exciting story and start writing your own mystery. Who was the owner of the bag and what happened to them?

 

Do You Dare?

We'll be turning out the lights in this spooky workshop as we dare to scare. Learn tips for injecting tension and suspense in your scary story and we guarantee you'll feel the chills.