Online story training
with guidance and feedback
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Online course
Designed for students aged 9 years and up
Learn by doing, at your own pace, with feedback from Kirsty
Students will:
- Strengthen their storytelling
- Sharpen their writing skills
- Learn the fundamentals of story, character, setting and structure
- Follow a sequenced process they can apply to creative writing exams and assignments
- Boost their creative thinking
- Exercise their empathy
- Apply what they've learned by submitting a 500-word story for feedback from Kirsty*
*Short pieces this length are common in assessments for this age – but are difficult to write well.
How it works
1. Where and when
We use Google Classrooms - simply because most students are familiar with it. The course consists of video lessons, worksheets and exercises.
For best results, set aside time each week and aim to complete 1-2 modules. This will take between 30 minutes and 1 hour per week.
Or, you could do the course more intensively - over a weekend, or during the school holidays.
Kirsty will be checking progress and answering student's questions.
2. What and how
Your child will learn a story-making process, from ideas through to drafting and editing.
They will apply fundamentals of story, character, setting and structure to their own story.
Kirsty leads by example, step-by-step. It's intuitive doing, rather than removed theory.
Students submit their completed story for feedback from Kirsty.
3. Why
Humans are the only species that communicate in stories.
Your child will become a more confident storyteller - a skill that will serve them well for school and for life.
They will strengthen, develop and be more confident in their own creative ability.
Students are immersed in stories, consuming them every day, yet they struggle to write their own. Why?
1. Students can find it difficult to fit BIG ideas into small containers.
2. They are expected to write stories but have rarely been stepped through the process of making one. Too often, students hand in an idea not a story.
The solution? Guide them through the process.
Kirsty shares how she goes about making a story - as a professional writer.
She does this step-by-step, getting students to apply each part of the process to their own story.
She shows students how to fit their "live" story into a small word count.
It's fun and fast.
It's learning through doing.
It taps students' innate storytelling ability.
It's a story-first approach.
This course is for:
- Students who love reading and writing - and want to take things further.
- Students who struggle to start or finish a story.
- Students who have great ideas, but can't wrangle them into words.
- Enthusiastic learners.
- Students who want to express themselves and find their voice.
Australian students aged 9 and above.
About Kirsty:
Kirsty works with stories, telling her own and helping others tell theirs.
She is the author of four Young Adult novels, published internationally. Her work has won and been shortlisted for numerous literary awards, including the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Young Adult fiction, the Ethel Turner prize for Young Adult's Literature and the Gold Inky. She is currently writing the screenplay for the movie adaptation of her debut novel, Raw Blue.
Each year, Kirsty speaks to thousands of students, inspiring them to create, not just consume, choose action over distraction, and to read, not just view. She was a featured speaker on the 2018 Sydney Writers' Festival School Days program.
Over the last ten years she has delivered author talks, writing workshops, residencies and keynotes at schools, writing festivals and other venues to audiences ranging from 4 to 1500, Australia-wide.
FAQs
Australian school students, aged 9 and above.
Yes! Especially if they want to gain confidence in their storytelling abilities and learn the fundamentals of story, character, setting and structure.
Course material is delivered online through Google Classrooms. Students can ask questions as needed. Students are expected to work through the material at the pace that suits them.
Parents/guardians will be emailed an access code for the classroom.
Students will submit their stories for Kirsty’s feedback via the classroom (through Google Docs) or a Microsoft Word doc emailed to Kirsty.
Kirsty will email story feedback and a certificate of completion to the parent/guardian email.
Students will also need pens/pencils and paper.
The aim of this course is to be fun, fast and practical.
There are ten video learning modules that are like mini-workshops. Each will require between 7 and 20 minutes to watch and work through.
On top of that, there are additional workbook exercises aimed at further developing students’ core skills. Most will require 20 minutes to complete.
I would recommend putting aside an hour per week for 6 weeks to complete the material and finish your story.
Alternatively, you could do the course intensively over 1 to 2 days.
Please note – tasks aren’t meant to be onerous, and spending ages on a task doesn’t necessarily make the outcome better. The steps in this approach have been distilled over ten years of story teaching to thousands of students.
Yes. It is a requirement for all Creative Kids providers that they have a current Working with Children check. Kirsty is also required to have a WWC check due to her speaking engagements with high schools.
Yes. Students work on a piece of writing during the course and submit it for feedback from Kirsty. There is also ample opportunity to ask questions, seek help and get less formal feedback during the course.
No! Storytelling is for life. The course will get you thinking about stories and how they can be framed to fit all sorts of different situations.
Not at all! Part of what we cover is how to use stimulus materials, associations, connections and what you know about people to come up with great story ideas.
No. If you have ever daydreamed, or told a lie, or read a book, or watched a movie, or dealt with another human being, you have the foundations required.
Yes. You are getting an insight into how another writer works. You will be challenged and stretched by generating new material based on a freshly made character and their world, to meet a brief, in one session.
Yes. If you are a NSW resident with a Creative Kids voucher, you can enter it in the registration process.
From Service NSW:
“The NSW Government is helping kids get creative with the Creative Kids program.
Parents, guardians and carers can apply for a voucher with a value of up to $100 per calendar year for each school-enrolled child aged 4.5-18 years.
The voucher may be used with an approved activity provider for registration, participation and tuition costs for performing arts, visual arts, coding, languages, literarature, music and other eligible creative and cultural activities.”
You can find out more about the Creative Kids program on the Service NSW Website here.
- Enrol your student in the workshop.
- Pay the registration fee.
- Fill out your voucher details during the registration process.
- Your voucher will be validated and we will contact you if there are any issues.
- The redemption funds from valid vouchers will be reimbursed to your payment method within 14 business days.
- Please note, vouchers can only be used once.
- For more information regarding the use of vouchers, please visit the Creative Kids website.
Thank you for your interest! If you contact Kirsty through the contact form on this website she will be in touch.
Refunds will be granted at the provider’s discretion, minus a $10 admin fee to cover registration system fees and administration costs. Thank you for your understanding.
Sign up now to the Storyletter for advance notice of course and holiday workshop dates. Receive story tips and secrets!
This info is being collected to send you an email newsletter. You are free to unsubscribe at any time. Mailchimp is our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your info will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp’s privacy practices here.
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