• Session:Writing Workshop Series for Teens
  • Date: Future dates coming soon
  • Time: 10am-12pm
  • Instructor: Angela M Cowan
  • Experience: Open to everyone
  • Ages: 13-17
  • Cost: $80
  • Supplies: Please bring a notebook and a pen, any other supplies will be provided.

A four-week series of writing workshops focusing on narrative arc and plot, character development, world-building, and common pitfalls in creative writing. Taught in an encouraging and positive workshop format, with feedback from the instructor and the class. All writers (and genres!) welcome, from those starting from scratch to those with a work-in-progress already on the go. For ages 13-17.

Instructor: Angela M Cowan is a professional writer and editor with more than eight years’ experience writing for lifestyle magazines and newspapers, and was a BC Yukon Community Newspaper Award Winner in 2015. She has had poetry published in Quills Canadian Poetry and digitally with Leaf Press Publishing, and has taken workshops with writer and poet Julie Paul and noted author Nick Bantock. Angela is passionate about helping others tap into their creativity, and leads a warm and welcoming workshop. Find her at www.angelamcowan.com

Course Details: 

Workshop 1) Introductions with a series of writing exercises designed to build trust and get the group comfortable with each other, then discussing narrative arcs, a variety of story structures, and the process of outlining, as well as what makes an effective “hook” for first pages.

Workshop 2) Begin with 1-2 short warm-up exercises. Continue discussion on story structure, bringing in plot and conflict. Move into character development, including internal and external wants and desires, and the obstacles keeping the character from achieving their goals.

Workshop 3) Begin with warm-up exercises. Discuss what goes into effective and immersive world-building with writing prompts and exercises. Continue by then placing the in-progress characters into each world, exploring how their environment affects their narrative arc. Assign each student to write a 3-4 page scene for the last workshop.

Workshop 4) Group workshop. Each student reads their scene aloud and receives positive and constructive feedback from the group and instructor. Common pitfalls of creative writing—passive voice, overdone clichés, excessive use of dialogue tags, etc—are discussed, with the caveat that, done well, any rule can be broken.