The Writers' Lab: Become a Better Writer
In this lively and empowering self-paced Creative Writing class , you'll learn to generate ideas, structure your thoughts and experiment in your writing. Whether you love or hate writing! Taught by a published author.
Jonny Walker (he/him) - MA (Uni of Cambridge)
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(612)
What's included
10 pre-recorded lessons
6 weeks
of teacher support1 year access
to the contentClass Experience
US Grade 5 - 8
*** FULLY NEW AND UPDATED CONTENT FOR APRIL 2024 *** - All new videos and structure for 2024 - Full syllabus of creative writing - 10 Sessions - 32 bite-sized learning videos - 2.5 hours of video content to access - Downloadable notesheets - Certificate of Completion The Writers' Lab is a rich and varied class that introduces you a wide range of different styles of writing. I want to help you find your own writer's voice, to write about what matters to you, in ways that are impactful and effective. This is not about making a load of writing-clones. Your writing should be just as unique and interesting as you are. You will have lots of opportunities to write across the course. I will not see it - it is entirely up to you what you do with it. Across the lessons of the course, we will learn about - Poetry - rhyming and non-rhyming forms - Essay - how to be a clear communicator - Fiction - tell stories that hold a reader's attention, stories that truly matter to you - Non-Fiction - spread the facts about your passions and obsessions, in engaging ways - Speechwriting - harnessing the power of persuasion In total, the Writer's Lab includes almost 2 and a half hours of snappy well-designed learning videos, split into 32 bite-sized chunks. There are downloadable resources to support you throughout as well. This is an *entirely* asynchronous class, meaning you can do it whenever you like. You are the only student in the class. There is no direct teacher feedback or interaction in the class - my teaching is the provision of these video and downloadable resources for you. Jonny Walker- as well as being a mythology and poetry teacher - is also a published children's writer. His books are published in the UK, USA and worldwide, with HarperCollins, Scholastic and Oxford University Press. He writes early readers that help children discover a love of reading. Outside of Outschool, Jonny works worldwide, visiting schools and teaching creative writing, poetry and Greek mythology. His teaching style is friendly, very inclusive, entertaining and thought-provoking. *There is a downloadable Certificate of Completion for this class.
Learning Goals
- You will get the chance to experiment with a range of different writing styles- You will learn how to inject your personality into all kinds of writing that you make
Syllabus
10 Lessons
over 6 WeeksLesson 1:
Welcome to the Writers' Lab
This lesson introduces your Writing Mentor, Jonny Walker. Jonny will explain how this course might help you to 'find yourself' as a writer - to trust your ideas, and to experiment in our writing laboratory.
1 x Video 5 mins of video lessons
Lesson 2:
Know Yourself As A Writer
This lesson will focus on making a short biography of your interests, expertise and life experiences. This biography will become the 'source material' for lots of your writing in future sessions.
4 x Video
1 x Notesheet 11 mins of video lessons
Lesson 3:
The Power of Poetry Part 1: Poetry That Rhymes
This lesson is all about what poetry is. We will explore how rhyming poetry works in different ways. We will look at the examples of rhyming verse, limericks and nonsense poetry.
4 x Video
3 x Notesheet 11 mins of video lessons
Lesson 4:
The Power of Poetry Part 2: Poetry That Doesn't Rhyme
This lesson looks at poetry beyond rhyming! We will explore anecdotal free verse poetry, acrostic poetry and the wonderful French form, the cinquain.
4 x Video
3 x Notesheet 10 mins of video lessons
Other Details
Parental Guidance
All of my class content and video content is age-appropriate.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined February, 2021
5.0
612reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I am a qualified teacher with 13 years experience in the classroom, teaching in London, England. In the last five years, I have been working as a specialist writing teacher in East London schools, specialising in creative writing, mythology and poetry.
I am a children's writer myself, and have nine books that have been published, with nine more currently 'in press' with the publishers.Reviews
Self-Paced Class
$25
weekly or $150 for all content10 pre-recorded lessons
6 weeks of teacher support
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1 year of access to the content
Completed by 42 learners
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Ages: 9-13
