It’s been one, two, three, four days into our workshop, and we can’t believe we’ve come this far!!
Have you ever felt as light as a bug or as hard as rock?
Day 4 started with a self-portrait of the writers as bugs or rocks.
Instructors Mira and Noah helped the young writers explore personal identity by observing insects and rocks. For this activity, we formed two groups: one for bugs, the other for rocks. The rock group walked over to Thompson Hall where the Geology department is housed, while the insect group walked over to Waters Hall, the location of K-State’s Entomology Department.
The writers quietly explored the insect displays, paying close attention to color, shape, and movement. Then, they chose the one that “felt” most like them: either it embodied their personality, mood, or any other characteristic.
At the Geology Department, the writers had a lot to choose from in terms of shape, size, and rock group — and it initially seemed difficult to make a choice. Eventually, they selected their muse from the abundant display of rocks, made notes, and returned to write a poem based on their rock choices.
Each student then wrote a short identity poem beginning with “I am like the…” using their notes and the provided word bank. After the writing activity, the writers exchanged their pieces and shared how their muses spoke to them.
Amanda Sellet and Y.A. Fiction
What makes a story good? When you want to write a story, you’ll most likely choose your words carefully, take care to construct the plot, and take in every detail as much as possible.
Imagine if you’re asked to do just the opposite of that? Amanda broke the ice by asking the young writers to try to write a bad story. For this activity, she gave a prompt and asked the young writers to fill in the blank, trying as much as possible to come up with something bad!
How bad can it get? Wait. How bad can YOU get?
After writing the bad “story,” the writers read aloud their bad stories, and guess what? It wasn’t that bad! Some were humorous, others were sarcastic, while some others just turned out to be puns!
The outcome was very surprising: You’re not as bad writer as you think. You probably just need to inculcate the routine that Amanda took us through!
Amanda’s session was very reflective. She led the writers to reflect on themselves, their personality, experiences, and their reader selves. The writers engaged in free-writes that helped them become self-aware. Armed with positive self-awareness, Amanda encouraged everyone to let their uniqueness shine through their writing.
Amanda closed out by giving us the golden egg of writing: revision. She showed us several stages of a single manuscript from drafting to publication. The students saw the several iteration that the piece went through. I’ll leave you with Amanda’s words: “Revision is magic. Don’t compare your first draft to another person’s finished draft.”
Flash Fiction with Maranda
After learning so much about from Amanda about the fiction writing process, Maranda led the students to create a flash fiction using an inspiring object. Can you guess the material? Art! Our students wrote stories using art works that appealed to them. It was a rich experience because some used the same art work they used to create poetry on Tuesday, while others chose entirely different art works! After writing, they formed pairs and read their stories to each other!
Revision with Noah Jayne
Have you ever written a perfect poem, story, essay or play? Well, maybe not, but you might have written something you thought was perfect. Noah taught the students to use experimentation and invention as tools for revision through a fun revision activity. He gave everyone six random revision prompts, regardless of what they were revising: a poem, a story, or a scene! The prompts included changing the setting or perspective one was writing from, among others. These strategies helped the students become more open to giving and receiving feedback.
Speed Dating Workshop
Our students are not just learning to write, they are armed with the tools that make writing a productive and truly rewarding process! To close our workshop today, we had a speed dating workshop! Ever gone on a speed date? It’s quick but memorable! In very quick successions, our writers got a buffet of comments from their dates!
Tomorrow is our grand showcase!! Our young writers will be reading some of the pieces that they crafted during the workshop. Be our guest! Join us at 1pm at the Beach Museum of Art.
-Mary Adeyemo, Program Assistant
K-State Young Writers' Workshop 