Young Authors Create A New Story With Roddy Doyle!
Young Writers Create A New Story With Roddy Doyle!
Fighting Words co-founder and author of The Giggler Treatment, Brilliant, Wilderness and more answered questions and worked with young authors to create a new story
Over 30 children - and their parents - braved a rainy and stormy morning to join Roddy Doyle and a team of Fighting Words writing mentors at our Dublin centre on Saturday, 11 March.
While it was cold and stormy outside, there was plenty of warmth and creativity inside as writers, all aged 10-12, arrived ready to write.
Questions and Advice
The young people - all keen writers - spent the first hour asking Roddy about his writing process. Questions included - What was the hardest book to write? How long does it take to write a book?
Roddy's advice included developing patience and resilience - learning how to sit with yourself and your ideas is really important and that "you have to earn your exclamation marks." Also, it's OK to allow yourself to be a little distracted sometimes - like checking the football scores.
Working Together to Create
The session kicked off with two of the participants creating dialogue as the basis of a new story.
The group then spent the first half of the workshop developing the characters, plot and setting, with long discussions about editing decisions and laughs along the way.
Roddy also spent time at the end of the session signing books and chatting.
Fighting Words Project Administrator Louise Melinn was on hand for the session. "It was a fabulous morning, everyone really enjoyed it. All the children were natural storytellers. It was inspiring to work with them."
"All the children were natural storytellers. It was inspiring to work with them" - Louise Melinn, Project Administrator
Related News
- Check out our Tips for Young Writers
- Learn more about Roddy Doyle's books for children
- After School Stories - Learn more about how young writers can submit writing to us
