The middle school years can be so fun: it’s before all the responsibility of high school and college and after school jobs. But it is also full of change and adjustment. You enter a kid and graduate a teen! It’s the perfect time to channel a disinhibited creative spirit that makes adjusting to major life changes–puberty and adolescence, new schools, family dynamics–so much easier to understand and cope with. Writing fiction, whether it’s a mystery, spy, adventure, or love story, allows our minds to explore our relationships and our role in this world. The middle school years are a fragile time for nurturing interest in the arts. When children begin to show passion for creative writing, it should be nurtured and supported so it’s not lost forever to the distractions of young adult life.
DATES AND TIME
Wednesday afternoons at 4-5 PM EST June 21 to July 5.
Class is conducted on Zoom to accommodate students who are traveling. An in-person class may be added if there is overwhelming interest.
ELIGIBILITY
This workshop is offered to students ages 11-14.
Students can apply for enrollment here, where they should provide a writing sample. Enrollment will close when the class size has been met (6 students).
CURRICULUM AND CLASS STRUCTURE
Each class is 1 hour. The first 10 minutes are dedicated to a brief lesson reviewing short, age appropriate outside reading, craft elements, and student questions. The next 20 minutes is free writing from a prompt. We will close the hour with 2 students who wish to read what they wrote during class and talk about what they liked about their peers stories.
Syllabus below subject to change to meet student interests.
Week 1 June 21: How To Write A Short Story & Genre
Week 2 June 28: Best Practices for Editing and Revision
Week 3 July 5: How To Get Involved In The Literary Community
COST
Tuition is $250 per student for the 3-week class. One scholarship is available to a promising student who needs financial assistance.
WHY JOIN A WRITING WORKSHOP
Writers’ workshops are fun and inspiring to aspiring writers and established ones alike. They help us improve our own skills and competencies through feedback, but also by learning to read with a critical eye. For those who are applying to college, using a workshop is a great way to nail that college essay, and looks great as an extracurricular on applications. They are also impressive to mention in cover letters and resumes, particularly for internships or jobs in writing, publishing, and grad school.
ABOUT RACHAEL WORKMAN
Rachael Workman is a writer and MFA candidate at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, with an expected graduation date of July 2024. There, she studies creative non-fiction/memoir and fiction. She has been been awarded the 2023 Social Media Fellowship, creating content for the VCFA Writing Program’s Instagram and Facebook. Her work has been published in thedrive.com (car blog), Rind Literary Magazine, Newberry Magazine, and The Dutch Fork Chronicle (no longer in print.) In 2003, Rachael won the Lillian Butler Davey Award in Communications for a short story entitled Mind The Gap. She studies writing with various arts organizations including Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop and Westport Writers’ Workshop, and also co-hosts a small women’s writer group that meets monthly. Additionally, she volunteers as a reader with The Maine Review and Hunger Mountain Review (literary magazines.) Rachael is a graduate of the College of Charleston where she studied Political Science, English, and Gender Studies.
Read more on the About page.
