WriteCraft’s first Creative Writing Workshop
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WriteCraft’s first Creative Writing Workshop – ‘Write Your Own Story’ – conducted by WriteCraft’s Founder, Qadijah Irshad, in August, was a huge success. The kids, especially those reluctant writers (honest enough to say they were forced to come in by their mums!) had a blast with the games, activities, competitions and group work in the fun and relaxed writing space.
The two day workshop was a session of imagination and creativity, breathing life into the wonderful world of words. “I wish you had this workshop every day. It’s amazing, I learnt so much,” says seven year old Avenika De Silva, as she creates her storyboard, lying down on the floor.
“Thanks Aunty Q, now I know what’s wrong with the stories I’ve been trying to write,” says 10 year old Rehma Azmi, who’s writing her own book.
But the objective of this workshop is not just to write stories, it’s to instil the love of writing in children, says Qadijah, who is a foreign correspondent and holds a Master’s in Professional Writing from the UK.
“In two decades of teaching writing, I’ve found children have lots of stories playing inside their heads, just screaming to be told,” says Qadijah. “By tapping into these stories and teaching them the connection between character, plot and dialogue, their stories go from mundane to exciting. And they love it!”
“Learning to write like this is a skill that makes children stand out in all their school subjects, not just creative writing,” she says. “And it’s one that they can take on into their workplace as they grow up.”
Five stories written by the children who participated at the WriteCraft workshop have been selected for publishing in the Funday Times.
“Although every single story was worthy of seeing print,” says Qadijah, “we’ve selected just five, based on the progress the kids made during those
two days.”
WriteCraft will be holding more ’Write You Own Story’ workshops in October, for children from 7 – 11 and 12 – 15. Everyone, aspiring authors and reluctant writers alike, will have plenty of fun and opportunities to learn how to improve and hone their writing skills and write stories to be proud of.
For more information call 0777-373736
(The first of five stories will be published in the Funday Times shortly…)
