少年写作者如何从写作中逼近自我？12-16岁英文创意写作工作坊

We were sitting in a circle, finally deciding our English festival show. We kept on trying to have a meeting about it, but there was always some trouble going on.

I sat up straight and cleared my throat: “What ideas do you guys have for our English Festival?” One of my classmates, Eva, yawned and suggested: “Maybe we could set up a band and have a English chorus.” “Sure, that will be a great way to show our class’s English.”Agreed Anna, stretching out her arms in all different directions. “How about the others?” I said, already becoming a little cross. Why didn’t they care?

The backpack stayed silent all the time too. Just absorbing the corner of the sky outside the bus window, and nothing else. He couldn’t quite understand what there was to look at, it was the same route from the wynnewood apartment to the school every day. So instead, he cast a glance inside the bus. Noisy kids, and quiet kids, muddy footprints and a piece of a broken-up Rubik’s cube. And then, he found something, or to be precise, someone just like him. In fact, purple, with poly the pony big in the front, there was an identical backpack like him, just across the aisle.

My favorite food is lollipops even though I know it is not actually a real food, but more of a snack or candy kind-of-thing. Since I was in kindergarten, every time I was sick or unhappy, Mother would change her identity into a "magician", and somehow "out of thin air" she would pull out a lollipop. I fell for it every time she plays the trick, and little by little, it became a special thing between me and my mother.

I have always liked the shape of lollipops. I loved how it looked like a microphone and, actually, many things depending the way you look at it. Like many kindergarten girls, I liked to pretend it as lipstick, as a toothbrush, or a pen with a piece of candy on the other end; or holding on to it as a mic and moving my body pretending I'm a star. I've also enjoyed putting it in different directions in my mouth, making my mouth look like a puffer fish.

Til now, every time I feel down, I ask my mother for a lollipop.

I am a street lamp, opening my eyes as night falls. I stand by the roadside, illuminating the way home for passersby. I've seen the lively of the night and the quiet of the empty streets. I've heard the footsteps of late-night travelers and the whispers of the wind. I witness the passage of time, from dusk to dawn, always on guard. I keep company with stars and the moon, guarding the city's nights. Though I stand alone, my light brings comfort. I am a street lamp, the city's night guardian.

Objectives of the Course:

In each session students will be given practical tools to explore the craft of nonfiction. Themes to be explored are writing from a personal perspective, including dialogue, scene setting, and background context that highlights the writers work against other nonfiction.

Each week they will be asked to come prepared with their writing to discuss with classmates and the tutor, and at the end will be sent direct feedback.

Students will be expected to maintain a high level of independence when it comes to reading and writing outside of class sessions.

Students will submit two personal essays over the course.

First Deadline: Wednesday, April 30th

Tutor will respond with feedback by Friday May 2nd

Second Deadline: Wednesday, June 18th

Tutor will respond with feedback by Friday June 20h

Sara：

I haven’t been able to take part in a creative writing class for a long time, not since after starting middle school. What really struck me here is the point of knowing your “self” and bringing out your personal voice out which is something I had been lacking in all the years of doing formal, boring official writing. The details needed to be presented in my work and turning a piece into more vivid scenes with dialogues instead of just me and my thoughts in it is sth I will take with me. This class also made me realize how many aspects in life can be and should be recorded throughout the day. Pieces of life that you see but cannot share are all valuable stuff that could be concluded in creating your own story.