Workshop gives pupils the write stuff

SHARING IDEAS: Sixteen gifted writers from Featherston School hone their storytelling skills with tutor John Bonallack, right, during a two-day workshop at the school. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Gifted young writers at Featherston School have been honing their wordcraft and will share some of their tales with classmates.

Principal Frazer Mailman said John Bonallack, a Wellington children's writer, publisher and Marathon Books facilitator, had led a two-day workshop aiming to challenge the skills of 16 Featherston School pupils who were gifted writers.

"We wanted to provide an extension for them and with John's skill and assistance from our teacher Penny Hopkins, the workshop really honed in on the kids' skills. I'm very pleased with the way the two days went."

Mr Bonallack, a past teacher and School Journal editor, said the workshop had been his first involving children, who were aged from 7 to 12.

The pupils had written, edited and worked on their stories over the two days of the workshop, he said, and their work was to be published in digital format and in a booklet, which will be presented to the school on Monday.

"They learned about the elements that make a good story, and discussed and worked on their story shape to give their writing an opening that hooked the reader in, built to a climax and resolved satisfactorily," Mr Bonallack said.

The pupils also "sharpened their climaxes with short punchy sentences, and discovered how to use strong verbs and invent original similes", Mr Bonallack said.

"Over the two days - with the help of a large jar of jellybeans - they each wrote, edited, polished and shared a story.

"I've done a lot of workshops for teachers and other adults, but never for children.

"When I was asked to do two full days with 16 children, I gulped. Frazer said they were gifted, but I couldn't imagine kids focusing for two days solid on writing. But gifted they are and focus they did.

"I was blown away by their involvement and by the quality of writing they developed."