An Amazing Week With Amazing Year 8’s

This week as part of my Creative Learning Partnerships’ author residency, I’ve worked with seven classes of Year 8 students at Keilor Downs College sharing how I create characters for books like Beyond Belief.

We’ve been discussing how vulnerability, admirability and credibility combine to create characters that readers connect with.

Of course characters don’t have to be completely admirable but there has to be something that readers like about them. And vulnerability is something that helps us build compassion for characters and care what happens to them.

It has been so rewarding working with these enthusiastic students and watching them unleash their creativity and use their imaginations to make up scenarios and story problems for their characters.

Next week we’ll be putting these characters into stories and settings.

Thanks to the wonderful dedicated librarians and the supportive staff who have got behind this project.

We’re going to be creating a collection of works in digital and/or print format, and I for one can’t wait to see what the students produce.

Watch this space.

Thank you to Creative Victoria and The Creative Learning Partnerships programme for making this residency possible.

Creative Learning Partnerships – a State Government Initiative