Sarah Driver
  • HOME
  • ABOUT ME
  • BLOG
  • THE HUNTRESS BOOKS and TEACHING RESOURCES
  • CONTACT ME
  • The World Of Trianukka
  • NEW BOOK: Once We Were Witches
  • ABOUT ME
  • BLOG
  • THE HUNTRESS BOOKS and TEACHING RESOURCES
  • CONTACT ME
  • The World Of Trianukka
  • NEW BOOK: Once We Were Witches
Sarah Driver
author visitwriting

Little Green Pig Project: using The Huntress: Sea to inspire young writers to create their own stories!

Sarah 29 Mar 2018 0 comment

‘The Huntress project was a unique opportunity for members of our after-school clubs to meet a local, published author and to inspire them to write the first chapter of their very own adventure stories.’

Hello, and happy Spring (finally!) I’ve just realised that I am long overdue an update of this blog, and wanted to write about an exciting opportunity I had at the start of the spring term. I had the chance to be involved with a brilliant project run by Brighton’s awesome Little Green Pig, all about helping young writers begin their own adventure stories. I made four author visits to two of the after-school writing clubs, where I usually volunteer as a Story Mentor. It was a little strange to be there as a visiting author, instead … and the kids probably found it a bit of a shock, too!

Workshop leader Adam did some prep with the kids before my visits, to support them to start crafting maps and inventing characters. He brought material like holiday travel books to after school sessions and the writers cut pictures/words that stood out and identified themes to feed into their own fantastical building of worlds and crafting of adventures.

I sent Adam links to some teaching resources made by Egmont and a Powerpoint presentation I’ve used when visiting schools. As a former teacher, Adam liked the resources, but LGP focuses on freeing up creativity over following rules so he also liked the emphasis in my presentation on what you maybe don’t need to be a writer – like how stuff like spelling doesn’t matter when it comes to stories (yay!) Then I made two initial visits to each of the Monday and Tuesday after school clubs, introducing myself, my book and my first chapter, plus sharing pages from my Huntress scrapbook.

My presentation was also used before my first visit, as a way to unlock creativity – the kids responded with free writing and then started making collages. The ultimate aim was for each child to write the first chapter of an adventure book, and hopefully continue their stories in their own time, beyond the scope of the project.

For my follow up sessions at the two clubs, Adam and I chose an activity to tie in with my book/adventure books and to serve as a warm-up before carrying on with the writing. Here are some of the activities we came up with:

– Describe a fantasy setting OR a fantasy ship

– Describe your dream adventure

– Freewriting with the keyword ‘adventure’

– Freewriting about a creature (magical or otherwise) who you would take with you on an adventure

-Use one of my exercises from my presentation e.g. what’s in your pockets or choose your special power

– Get into pairs and intro characters to each other

– One of us could bring some interesting objects and the kids could each choose one and write about it (inspire the free writing?)

– What magical kit would you pack for an adventure?

We chose to go with ‘get into pairs and intro characters to each other,’ and then introduce the story and protagonist to the group using a fun book-launch style format where each writer introduced their story as though it was their own book launch (to much applause.) I explained what my own book launch had been like and played the part of the ‘bookseller’ introducing each author to their audience.

We used one of the LGP values, ‘Be Brave’, to help each writer find the bravery needed to present in front of the group – a skill I think it must be so useful to practice from an early age – but I also told them how I could never have spoken in front of people at their age, and if they didn’t want to, that’s totally normal and fine too!

We were mesmerised by the resulting stories. Writers were naming worlds and creating tense, pacy chapters and introducing us to truly memorable characters. In one story we were transported to the Glowing Up Express,  in another we met an army of sugar-shruggers. In other adventures we met a girl called Ore, and the lonely pooac – the only creature hot enough to survive the burning flood of roaxls.

 

 

Here’s what Adam said about the project after it wrapped:

‘I enjoyed learning about Sarah’s own journey of creating her characters and settings, and then to see the children’s own story-journey through collaging, map making and playing with letters to create such weird and wonderful words!  These ranged from a slimy creature named a ‘pooac’ to ‘roaxl’ – a liquid that makes people disappear.  Thank you, Sarah, for coming in and spending time with both the Whitehawk and Portslade clubs and inspiring some great, imaginative writing!’

I am beyond proud to have had the chance to work with these brilliantly creative writers, and for the project to be based on my work is a massive honour. Thank you, Little Green Pig, and keep writing!

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

#Tags
The Huntress: Seavolunteeringwriting

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Plus
  • Pinterest
  • Email

You may also like

///////////////
author visitwriting

Checking in: reflections on 2017, excitement for 2018

Sarah 29 Dec 2017 1,828 comments
author visitwriting

YouTube interview with Katherine Woodfine

Sarah 17 Aug 2017 0 comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Me

Sarah Driver
“ Writer. Ginger cat accomplice. BSU MAWYP grad. Represented by Jodie Hodges of United Agents. Author of MG book series THE HUNTRESS: SEA, SKY, and STORM, published by Egmont.

Follow Me

Instagram

Popular Post

October Update – Bath Festival of Children’s Literature and surviving my second author event!
1

October Update – Bath Festival of Children’s Literature and surviving my second author event!

30 Oct, 2016
9092 14
Swedish Lapland, Final Cover and Freshly Baked Books!
2

Swedish Lapland, Final Cover and Freshly Baked Books!

10 Feb, 2017
19945 115
(Official) Publication Month Is Here!
3

(Official) Publication Month Is Here!

5 Apr, 2017
6230 0
Notes from a rookie author’s first school tour!
4

Notes from a rookie author’s first school tour!

31 May, 2017
4270 0
The Huntress: Sky Countdown – Meet The Designer!
5

The Huntress: Sky Countdown – Meet The Designer!

17 Jul, 2017
41276 793

Archives

  • April 2021
  • January 2019
  • June 2018
  • March 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016

Tags

author event bloggers books Climate Crisis competition Countdown cover creative writing workshops Designer Egmont Inspiration Interview Jodie Hodges Launch lockdown mentoring Nature new book proofs research research trips school visits The Huntress: Sea The Huntress Sky The Huntress Storm tour travel volunteering writing

Goodreads

Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: There is no connected account for the user 190245141.

My Story

I grew up on the south-east coast of Britain. My granny taught me to swim in the seas of England and Spain, and when I got over my fear of being underwater, I loved pretending to be a mermaid. I am a qualified nurse and midwife, but I still listen hard for the whispers of dark tales and strange creatures, waiting to be discovered, just beyond the realms of what can be seen.

Latest Tweets

  • Tweet Avatar
    RT @EcocideLaw: 📢 BREAKING! The #EU Parliament has JUST NOW announced its support for the inclusion of “#ecocide” in the EU's revis… https://t.co/21DoVo6uk3

    13 mins ago
  • Tweet Avatar
    RT @aishabushby: EDUCATORS: My Barrington Stoke title, Suitcase S(witch), comes out at the beginning of May and I’d love to organise… https://t.co/6X7n5N3wYi

    16 hours ago
  • Tweet Avatar
    RT @MaryHeglar: If you were wondering how badly we're doing on communicating the climate crisis to regular people, I talked to a wo… https://t.co/X5praeCFVa

    4 days ago

Recent Comments

    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    Follow me
    This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
    Error: There is no connected account for the user 190245141.
    2016 @Sarah Driver. All right reserved