This class is for any student who is interested in creative writing, whether they are an aspiring author with a book they know they want to write, a young writer who is curious but doesn't really know where to start, or any other type of creative storyteller-in-the-making. This is a class where you can uncover new ideas and learn how to bring them to life! Of course, every student has a different story (or many stories!) they may want to tell, and this class will feature two main parts each week that will give learners the chance to develop those stories. The first part will be student led, and the second part will be teacher led.

The first half of every single one of our classes will give students a chance to share personal projects, works, and ideas, both finished and in-progress. Some students may be on the more reserved side, so they are more than welcome to just listen during this time of class, or perhaps send work to me personally for feedback until they get more comfortable. In order to make sure that all students have something to share, every week students will be given a creative writing challenge to work on in their own time between classes. These challenges will be announced at the end of each class and posted on the classroom page.

After the sharing half of our class has concluded, we will move into a more traditional creative writing lesson. Each class will have a unique, self-contained topic that I will break down and introduce to the students. These topics will cover many different areas of writing. Sometimes, we may discuss very straightforward, technical advice and techniques like classic story structures, different ways to outline a story, and even grammar tips that are important to remember when writing fiction. At other times, we may be more imaginative and ideas-based, talking about things like worldbuilding, what makes a great character, and different genres to explore. A list of upcoming topics can be found below. As always, the more students share and participate, the more they will get out of it!

--- Class Schedule (Continually Updated) ---
Week of December 31 - Designing Magical Creatures
Week of January 7 - Grammar and Punctuation 101
Week of January 14 - All about Tense and Perspective
Week of January 21 - Describing with Detail
Week of January 28 - How to Show a Character's Thoughts and Personality
Week of February 4 - Fantasy and Science Fiction Map-Making
Week of February 11 - Basic Kinds of Poetry
Week of February 18 - Bringing Weather and Nature into a Setting
Week of February 25 - Genres and How to Mix Them

Enthusiasm and dedication are expected more than experience. That being said, students should come into the class with the ability to write at least paragraphs and ideally short pages of text. New writers can create amazing stories, but amazing stories always take work, and it can be very hard to know where to start and where to go after you've started. This class exists to help young writers through all of that, to learn lots of different skills from all different areas of the craft of writing so that they can bring their own stories to life! And of course to meet, befriend, and work with like-minded students along the way!
 
All of that being said, let's get writing!