Why Creative Writing?
Writing Workshops
You might think of creative writing as frivolous or superfluous. That it is so much less important than grammar and spelling. Think again.
Whether students are writing about dragons or dogs, childhood memories or childhood dreams, they are learning how to get their ideas across in a clear and entertaining way. They can create an entire universe with only a pen and paper. And they can have fun doing it.
When I was in grade school, writing was considered a mild form of torture. We were punished with writing essays when we stepped out of line. We had to dissect sentences like we did earthworms, labeling each word with its purpose.
Things have changed since then. But the artistic side of writing still often gets neglected in favor of the technical.
When I was invited to give creative writing workshops to students at La Côte, I developed courses to gets kids excited about writing. To learn, yes, but to bring fun to the forefront. How? By allowing their “vivid imaginations” a place on paper. By rewarding them for the silly, the crazy, the over-the-top. By getting them to experience the importance of sensory detail and sensational wording by asking them to make me believe the unbelievable.
They made me believe it. The students were already in touch with their creative side and even the ones who claimed to not like writing came into the workshop with open minds. The students were enthusiastic and engaged. The pieces they came up with in such a short time was exceptional.
I had wanted the kids to see that writing isn’t torture. I wanted them to see that it’s magic. Well, they had me under their spell.
Katie Hayoz - About Me
I’m an American writer living in Switzerland with an insatiable appetite for speculative fiction and buttered popcorn. After years of struggling to pass as an adult, I’ve finally embraced my inner teenager (I have the zits to prove it). Right now I’m working on a series of chapter books for young readers as well as a crossover series.
You can visit my website at katiehayoz.com
