Creative, expressive writing for teenagers
You hear it everywhere, don't you? Storytelling is important! People even made a lot of money with storytelling.
But these days creating a great story has changed. All you need to do is ask your computer. You just submit a few suggestions and you will receive a perfect story. Often great stories.
Publishers are overwhelmed by the number of books submitted to them, created by AI. It certainly can be entertaining to let AI write a few stories for you, but what good does this do to your creativity?
I would argue 'not much', if anything it might reduce your creativity. And for this reason, I'm offering writing (and art) classes to develop your intuition and your imagination. And I believe it is important to have a lot of imagination, don't you?
In a world where we have to compete with, or use Artificial Intelligence it can be crucial to being able to think outside the box. And I believe that playing with your imagination can help with that. And it is fun too!
About the class
You will be part of a group, which is great for your social skills. If you are joining the online writing class then you will still be interacting with your computer, but you won't be alone. You are not having a 'conversation' with your computer, but with other teens and with me, your teacher. I offer a safe space for teenagers to be creative and interact with other teens, potentially from all over the world!
The focus will mostly be on writing short stories, both during the class and at home. You will learn some rules about writing, you will find out about the structure of a story, you will learn to narrate with a different 'voice' and much more. But I very much encourage writing from your intuition and using your imagination.
You will be part of a private Facebook group, where people can share their work and we can interact and give (positive-constructive) feedback. We can also share interesting writing-related information, so it will be an inspirational space to be.
It is wonderful to develop your (story) writing skills in a fun and interactive way. Let's get those writing skills flowing!
Who is this class for?
If you are a teenager (12-19 years of age) with a decent knowledge - not necessarily perfect- of the English language and if you like to tell stories and/or if you like to learn how to express yourself in words, then this is for you!
This class is not about learning how to write proper English. It is not an English class. It’s about becoming creative, about playing with words and getting in touch with your imagination. Although the class will be in English, you don’t have to worry about perfect English grammar. So even if English is not your mother tongue, you can still join this class.
I absolutely love storytelling and I love to help others to develop this skill in a playful manner.
How?
We will get together 1 day a week for 1.5 to 2 hours at a time. You will also get a weekly short story assignment to do at home. This is extremely useful to practise creative writing.
If English is not your first language and you prefer to do the home assignment in your own language, you can! But you then translate it into English. During the class we only read out the stories in English and we communicate in English.
And of course, the homework assignment is something you do yourself, don’t ask AI 😊.
During the class we will share our stories and then do fun exercises with words. There will be tips and suggestions and guidelines to bring some structure into the stories. All with the aim to improve self-expression in words and get in touch with your imagination.
To participate in this class you need a good knowledge of the English language. During the class we only speak and write in English.
However, you can write the home assignment, if this comes easier to you, in your own language and then translate it into English... yes you may use AI for this.
This class is about the stories you create, it's not about the grammar. However, with the possibility of other teens, or me - your teacher, not speaking your language, we need to listen to or being able to read your story in English!
Participating teens are invited to join a private Facebook group which is created especially for this class. Here they can share their stories. This is a safe space. There are a few rules for the zoom class and this FB group, such as no bullying, no negative feedback (only constructive feedback), etc.
What do you need?
You will use your own writing material, for example pens and notebooks, and you need access to a laptop or computer to do the home assignments.
Where and when?
This online creative writing class is taking place on Tuesday afternoon from 15.30 to 17.00. Classes take place online via zoom.
Price
Price per class is 15 Euros. Recommended to book at least two classes in a row as you will get some homework.
If you choose to continue the class after a first lesson you will receive an eBook about expressive writing.
You can also book 4 classes in a row, this is a little bit cheaper. 50 Euros instead of 60 Euros. The money has to be paid in advance via PayPal https://paypal.me/RenatevanNijen or international bank transfer. (details on request). Although this is an ongoing class, you can start whenever you like, as every week there are new assignments.
If you paid for 4 weeks and cannot make it to a certain class you can still find the assignment in the Facebook group and if you have any questions you can contact me for tips and advice. When you have paid for 4 weeks and cannot make it one week then you can move it to the week after, you can only do this 1x. So you will have 5 weeks to 'consume' your 4 payments. I have to be a bit strict with this as participant numbers are limited and if you cannot make it for several weeks I can give your spot to someone else. Or you can just pay per class (provided there is space).
Please contact me if you are interested, via WhatsApp, Telegram or email:
Telephone: 0034 – 655211276
Email: [email protected]
Who am I?
My name is Renate van Nijen and I’m a Dutch, published writer of nine books (so far), one of which is about La Herradura (Reflections from La Herradura), the village in southern Spain where I live. I’m also an artist and an art teacher (see information about my art, books and art classes in the menu bar).
I have written all my books in the English language (of course they were all proofread by professional proof readers) but some have been translated into Dutch, Spanish and even German.
