Sun October 25, 2015
Writing for Middle-Graders and Young Adults
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at The Writing Salon
(see times)
Whether you’re limbering up to attempt your first middle grade book or almost finished with your fourth YA novel, this course will inspire you and hone the skills you need to write and edit for young audiences. Learn how to create characters with kid-appeal; create worlds with kid-appeal; make word choices that suit your genre.
“The writer’s first job is to imagine,” says Shirin Yim Bridges, “so we’ll begin with some great ideation exercises. We’ll work against the constraints of adult life and let our imaginations fly. In fact, we’ll push them out of the window. Then we’ll learn how to develop characters, and get to really know them by peeking into their private thoughts and feelings.”
World-building is crucial in most children’s literature, especially Middle Grade and YA. This course will give you the bricks and mortar. Last but not least, learn how to punch things up to get your readers’ — and that editor’s or agent’s — attention…. Come prepared to enjoy exercises and lots of group interactivity with every class!
Shirin Yim Bridges’ first picture book, Ruby’s Wish, is a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book and won the Ezra Jack Keats Award. Her second book, The Umbrella Queen, made TIME/CNN’s Top 10 Lists. Mary Wrightly So Politely was released to starred reviews in Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. Shirin is also the Head Goose at Goosebottom Books, award-winning publishers of A Treasury of Glorious Goddesses. She has given workshops and seminars on writing and publishing for Stanford University, San Francisco State University, Illinois State University, the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, and the Book Passage Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference.
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“The writer’s first job is to imagine,” says Shirin Yim Bridges, “so we’ll begin with some great ideation exercises. We’ll work against the constraints of adult life and let our imaginations fly. In fact, we’ll push them out of the window. Then we’ll learn how to develop characters, and get to really know them by peeking into their private thoughts and feelings.”
World-building is crucial in most children’s literature, especially Middle Grade and YA. This course will give you the bricks and mortar. Last but not least, learn how to punch things up to get your readers’ — and that editor’s or agent’s — attention…. Come prepared to enjoy exercises and lots of group interactivity with every class!
Shirin Yim Bridges’ first picture book, Ruby’s Wish, is a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book and won the Ezra Jack Keats Award. Her second book, The Umbrella Queen, made TIME/CNN’s Top 10 Lists. Mary Wrightly So Politely was released to starred reviews in Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. Shirin is also the Head Goose at Goosebottom Books, award-winning publishers of A Treasury of Glorious Goddesses. She has given workshops and seminars on writing and publishing for Stanford University, San Francisco State University, Illinois State University, the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, and the Book Passage Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference.
Whether you’re limbering up to attempt your first middle grade book or almost finished with your fourth YA novel, this course will inspire you and hone the skills you need to write and edit for young audiences. Learn how to create characters with kid-appeal; create worlds with kid-appeal; make word choices that suit your genre.
“The writer’s first job is to imagine,” says Shirin Yim Bridges, “so we’ll begin with some great ideation exercises. We’ll work against the constraints of adult life and let our imaginations fly. In fact, we’ll push them out of the window. Then we’ll learn how to develop characters, and get to really know them by peeking into their private thoughts and feelings.”
World-building is crucial in most children’s literature, especially Middle Grade and YA. This course will give you the bricks and mortar. Last but not least, learn how to punch things up to get your readers’ — and that editor’s or agent’s — attention…. Come prepared to enjoy exercises and lots of group interactivity with every class!
Shirin Yim Bridges’ first picture book, Ruby’s Wish, is a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book and won the Ezra Jack Keats Award. Her second book, The Umbrella Queen, made TIME/CNN’s Top 10 Lists. Mary Wrightly So Politely was released to starred reviews in Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. Shirin is also the Head Goose at Goosebottom Books, award-winning publishers of A Treasury of Glorious Goddesses. She has given workshops and seminars on writing and publishing for Stanford University, San Francisco State University, Illinois State University, the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, and the Book Passage Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference.
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“The writer’s first job is to imagine,” says Shirin Yim Bridges, “so we’ll begin with some great ideation exercises. We’ll work against the constraints of adult life and let our imaginations fly. In fact, we’ll push them out of the window. Then we’ll learn how to develop characters, and get to really know them by peeking into their private thoughts and feelings.”
World-building is crucial in most children’s literature, especially Middle Grade and YA. This course will give you the bricks and mortar. Last but not least, learn how to punch things up to get your readers’ — and that editor’s or agent’s — attention…. Come prepared to enjoy exercises and lots of group interactivity with every class!
Shirin Yim Bridges’ first picture book, Ruby’s Wish, is a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book and won the Ezra Jack Keats Award. Her second book, The Umbrella Queen, made TIME/CNN’s Top 10 Lists. Mary Wrightly So Politely was released to starred reviews in Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. Shirin is also the Head Goose at Goosebottom Books, award-winning publishers of A Treasury of Glorious Goddesses. She has given workshops and seminars on writing and publishing for Stanford University, San Francisco State University, Illinois State University, the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, and the Book Passage Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference.
show less
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The Writing Salon
2121 Bonar Street, Berkeley, CA 94702
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