Taught by a published author, you will explore a variety of writing genres to discover your unique author's voice. Stretch your creative muscles in this writing workshop as you compose a memoir, devotional, poetry, fiction, and a children’s book. We will write movie and book reviews. This is an important skill, and a wonderful way for you to engage your Christian worldview into the broader cultural conversation!

You will also learn how to resonate together as a small group of writers, just like Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the Inklings. We will take some of your writing to the final stage, other projects will remain at a draft level, but you will have a writing portfolio at the end of the year. Students should have a foundation in writing and grammar and be able to apply those skills to these creative projects.

Course Objectives:

1. To familiarize the student with a wide range of writing genre.
2. To establish a writers' group to encourage and resonate with each other in an Inklings style.
3. To assist the student in finding their personal writing niche by writing in a wide range of styles.
4. To refer to classics of poetry and literature as inspiration for the student's own work.
5. To create a portfolio of writing samples, both draft and finished pieces.

Texts

- *Bandersnatch* by Diana Glyer
- An autobiography of your choice. This can be a book that you’ve read before, but it’s important that it’s an autobiography because you'll benefit from example for our Memoir writing. If you are stuck trying to think of one, *Surprised by Joy* by C. S. Lewis is one of my favorites.
- *The Singing Bowl* collected poems by Malcolm Guite.
- *Poetic Meter and Form* by Octavia Wynne.
- *Wind in the Willows* by Kenneth Grahame. Make sure you get the original, unabridged copy. Arthur Rackham and Ernest H. Shepard are the illustrators of the classic versions.
- Choose a copy or two of your favorite children's picture books.
- A Biblical devotional that has resonated with you.
- Selections of mysteries from G. K. Chesterton from *The Innocence of Father Brown*. You can order a copy but it is also available free online at [Gutenberg.org](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/204).

Learn More

[](https://youtu.be/BA6yw8DZOY4 "Annie on Creative Writing")