School Building

Hey guys,

I posted this workshop a while back at Key Publications Network. I'm head of the (YAWR) Young Adult Writers Rock group. Group heads were coming up with workshops and since I have finals and haven't been able to post very interesting things lately I figured that this workshop on "school building" could prove beneficial and perhaps even fun :]

School Building Workshop

Let’s face it. Every young adult is going through a learning stage. Whether it’s in middle school, high school, wizarding school, or just learning from the elder in a tribe.

The beauty of YA books is that they can be in any genre so there are many variations in how schooling can be portrayed. If it is just a YA romance..it may be drama filled at a high school. If it’s a YA fantasy then a school may not exist in that time period. A young adult may be under the instruction of just one person for one particular subject.

Think about the world J.K. Rowling created with Harry Potter. She came up with O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s to be like finals and the SAT’s. We have all these different genres why not create a genre-specific school. Take horror for example: A school for serial killers, masochists, and cannibals? How crazy freaky would that be? What would be the rules? Does it create these people or does it try to help them and turn them back into regular citizens?

For Sci-fi: What about a school for guys who need to learn how to impress girl robots because they are the only kinds of females on the planet left. (Oh! I may try that one!)

When writing a novel a common phrase to hear is “World Building” well, instead of world building, this week we will be “School Building”. Write in whatever genre you choose and create a school to fit that time. Remember, try something new; Like a school for werewolves or pixies? Just give it a shot :]

Happy Writing