Being creative and writing creatively is something that most young people can do without realising. However, students can be put off by the “rules” of writing in the classroom. They may not feel like they can be creative or that they are able to write a story or a poem. What they want to write might not look like the stories and poems in their textbooks (which they also might find boring!). I think it’s a shame that some students may lose confidence in expressing themselves because of this.
I’ve been thinking of how to encourage young people to experiment a bit more, and to realise that there is more than one way to tell a story or write a poem. There is also more than one way to display a story or a poem other than on a piece of paper. And technology can play an important role in helping students realise this.
I’ve come up with a workshop for Create which will encourage students to use their imaginations. It’s called Noisy Stories. It’s a workshop that’s designed to allow students to write their own one-minute “word movie” – a movie without any pictures. Students will use subtitles, sound, and music to tell their stories. They will learn the basics of sound recording and editing using software, and they will learn about story-telling and how they can combine sounds and music with the words they write. At the end of the workshop, the students will be able to show each other what they have made, and they will be able to take their movie home to show their friends and family.
If you’d like to enrol your child on Create, don’t hesitate. It is free, it runs over the holidays and we still have some places left.
The contribution above was written by our very own Neal Cahoon, who’s working incredibly hard with us, and towards his PhD in Creative Writing, at the University of Roheampton, funded by the TECHNE Doctoral Training Scheme.