For a number of years, I’ve been running a Young Writers Group with the Monash Library in Mount Waverley. I have so much fun with the young writers and so do they. Sometimes I’m not sure who is having more fun – me or them!
Yesterday was no different. We had a fun writing prompt about two characters meeting each other. A number of people were running a little late, so I shared the manuscript of a story I had entered in a competition. The kids thought it was hilarious. We also spoke about finding books in the library and I mentioned that there are copies of my books in the library downstairs from the workshop.
After the session, a few of the kids went downstairs to find books – including mine. One young reader started flipping through Lizzy’s Dragon and loved the fact that the chapters are short. She told me that a novel she’s writing also has short chapters and she had been thinking they needed to be longer…
This is one reason I do what I do. I write the stories I want in the way that suits me. I prefer writing shorter chapters as it’s what fits with my life and the way I write. I also like reading books with short chapters as I am often reading books in short periods of time in between everything else that’s going on!
I share my writing processes with the young writers, as well as processes of other writers I know and read about to show them that every author is different and that there is no one way to write a story or novel. I also share my own journey and the ups and downs of life as an author. This is something that inspires and encourages them as they can see that I’m just like them – still playing with stories, learning my craft, and chasing my dreams.
If you want to know more about the sessions at Mount Waverley Library, click here and go to the Kids & Youth section.
If you want to know about Virtual Writers Groups (if you’re not able to attend the sessions at the Mount Waverley Library), click here.
