Do you like writing about young people? Whether your project is for children, teenagers or adults, join award-winning author Jenny Valentine online for a month to help your young characters bloom.

Writing about young people is a particular skill. This month-long online course on Zoom is designed to encourage, consider and hone your voice as you explore ways of representing and inhabiting young characters in their own stories.

Moniack in a Month – Writing about Young People includes:
– A short introductory welcome session
– Four stimulating online workshops
– One 30 minute one-to-one tutorial (or two x 15 minute tutorials)
– A final ceilidh session – optional sharing of work
– Contact and support from a community of writers via Google Classroom (optional)
– Support from your Moniack Mhor host

Jenny’s workshops will focus on the following:

1. Voice and Language
It is vital that you sound like only you can sound when you write. Pare down your own writing voice through free prose, dialogue and a brief foray into memoir.

2. Character
Whether you are starting afresh or revisiting someone already familiar, there are many ways to explore character. Using instinct and intuition and letting go a little of the idea of control, watch the people in your stories bloom and grow.

3. Story and Structure
Every finished story has a beginning, a middle and an end. But how do you find them? And how do you get there? Work on the key stepping stones that get you from A to Z and come out with as much, or as little, of a plan as you need.

4. Revision
Editing is as important a part of writing as the creative flow. Practise some techniques to clean up your text. Prepare yourselves to be ruthless and agile.

Timetable:
Mon 13 March, 6.30pm–9pm, Welcome Session and Workshop 1
Mon 20 March, 7pm–9pm, Workshop 2
Mon 27 March, 7pm–9pm, Workshop 3
Mon 3 April, 7pm–9pm, Workshop 4
Tues 4 April, 7pm–9pm, Ceilidh

Your tutorial with Jenny will be arranged during the course.

Fee: £325
Bursaries available: www.moniackmhor.org.uk/writers/grant

Jenny Valentine is an award-winning writer for children and Young Adults. Her first novel Finding Violet Park won the Guardian prize in 2007 and since then she has written several critically acclaimed books, including Broken Soup, The Ant Colony and Fire Colour One, as well as the young fiction series Iggy and Me and the middle grade trilogy A girl called Joy. Her work has been published in 19 countries. In 2017/18 she was the Hay Festival International Fellow, meeting and learning from young people all over the world.

For further information, please contact online@moniackmhor.org.uk, call 01463 592828 or visit https://www.moniackmhor.org.uk/courses/2360-online-moniack-in-a-month-writing-about-young-people-with-jenny-valentine/