What a wonderful challenge!
Well what an exciting day that was!
I was thrilled to be invited to spend the day at Roedean School in Brighton where the girls had been set an incredibly demanding challenge. They had to work in groups to write a book for local primary school pupils. And they had ONE DAY…yes that’s right…just ONE DAY to get the job done.
I had been invited into the school with lots of other lovely authors – Jenny McLachlan, Rob Lloyd Jones, Holly Smale, Tanya Byrne and Helen Peters were all there. There were also some fabulous illustrators and artists who I got to wave at quickly as we grabbed biscuits to help keep our energy levels up. We were all there tasked with the job of helping the students complete their mission.
I ran a workshop on using the local setting and its secrets as the starting point for a story. (You know how much I love to be inspired by places and Brighton is full of wonderful settings – just check out Secret Breakers – The Power of Three for proof!) The girls came up with some amazing ideas for adventures set around the fabulous cliffs of Brighton or in the twisty hidden Lanes or underground tunnels that run through the the city. There were so many ideas flying round the air and so much inspiration to tap in to. And all the while the deadline was getting closer and closer!
The wonderful people at the brilliant Book Nook Shop in Hove were given the very difficult responsibility of choosing the winning books. I can’t imagine how tricky that must have been as every one worked as hard as they possibly could to get their creations finished before the time ran out. I think the young writers and illustrators must have been exhausted.
I’m sure that the winners were very worthy of their prize and I’m sure too that the pupils at the local schools were thrilled to have stories written just for them.
I wonder if you could manage to write a book in a day? What would you write about? And how would you make sure you got the task done in time? Maybe you could set yourself this challenge one day over the summer. It’s a great way to get really creative…and to have fun! So I hope you give it a go.
Good Luck if you do! I think that clock is ticking!