School Visits

I've made a number of visits to primary and secondary schools to speak on several topics. Sometimes the visits are about my books, but I have also developed a 35-40 minute mini workshop which introduces primary school kids to short story planning. I ran seven of these workshops during a single day at a country school recently, ensuring that all kids in years 3-7 got the most out of my visit.

During these sessions I cover the basics of story construction, giving each child a worksheet to be filled out during the lesson. Attention is maintained because the terms on the form are incomplete, and the kids enjoy guessing what C_____ or J___ might be. It's particularly rewarding when they get it right. (You can see the current version of the form here as a PDF file.)

Kids are encouraged to be as creative as they like with characters, setting and so on, and nothing they dream up is too silly. Participation includes asking students to share what they wrote down, and during my talks I like to encourage as many questions as possible. Nothing is off limits, including how many publishers rejected me and how much money authors earn - and I've had those questions and more.

Although my books are written for adults and marketed to age 14+, my own kids are in primary school and I relate well to that age group. I also believe it's important to encourage kids to write for enjoyment early on, before the inevitable peer pressure makes writing seem geeky and uncool.

(My second novel, Hal Spacejock Second Course, is on the WAYRBA 2007 reading list for younger readers. Apparently, it was nominated by a nine year old!)

If you'd like me to visit your school (Western Australia only at this time), feel free to contact me. I use the standard ASA author payment rates, but am willing to put in more hours per visit than those specified - particularly for country schools.

These pages contain my thoughts on the writing game. If you take one suggestion or pointer away from my waffle I'll be happy.