MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Festival was so fun ...

Photo of Author by Martin Lipman @ 2023

"I liked how we could share and ask questions about being a writer and previous books we'd written."  

"What I liked best about this workshop is everyone creative writing and at the end how we played a fun, silly game."

"The workshop is very nice and I liked how Mrs. Dowding interacted with everyone and took time to listen to everyone."

"I liked EVERYTHING!!!!!!!"    -- MASC Young Authors & Illustrators Participants, 2023

Photo by Martin Lipman @ 2023, 140 students!

In early April, 2023, I had the absolute pleasure of presenting a writer's workshop to 25 young writers, ages 8-12, as part of the MASC Young Authors & Illustrators festival! What a wonderful opportunity to meet other authors and fantastic young writers, and at the beautiful Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, too. 

Together, our writing group created interesting characters, vivid descriptions, through prompts, exercises and games including Caption This, Rocks Explode, and the 200-year-old parlor game (some say invented by Rimbaud), The Exquisite Corpse Loves a Blue Piano. 

I also introduced my Masterclass writing group to "Philippa's Top 5 Writing Tips," enjoy...

5. PLAY!

4. Keep it Simple, often the first word is the right one.  

3. What's the hidden story, describe what we can't see 

2. Show us your character's deepest fear and ...

... my number 1 writing tip: Show us, don't just tell us! Make me feel your hunger, don't just write, "I'm hungry!" I enlisted the help of Chat (GPT) here, and the students were intrigued. I was able to point out some of the differences between our writing and the AI's style, which made for an interesting comparison. We decided that in general, the AI relied on simile more than we did, and in one instance made a mistake: it asked us to "look" at a smell.

I also included my 10 Top Tips for the Writer's Life, like find your favorite pen (mine's a Pilot V5 Techpoint 0.5) and notebook (for me, a Moleskin 5 x 7 lined, 80 pages); find a sunny, quiet place to write; read your work out loud; know a bit about your ending before you start; give yourself a deadline; go meet other authors; start a writing group, and a lot more. 

It was an honor, and I was so pleased to be asked to be part of this year's event, only my second time in front of a large audience since the beginning of the pandemic. We were far too long apart. 

Thanks to MASC and to the young authors, I had a fabulous time!

Some of the writing on the boards, 
such great writing, ideas and collaboration!

Philippa's 5 Top Tips for Writers

Click for more on past children's writing workshops