Hopefully, the world is opening back up for 2022, and I’m excited to get back out there and work with festival organisers across the country. I run exciting and engaging workshops in schools across the country and have recently been working with local libraries to run writing events for children and families. You can find information about my workshops below, but please do drop me an email so that we can discuss these in more detail and how they can benefit your visitors.

Branching Narratives (suitable for all ages)

Branching narratives, or choose-your-own-path stories, are great for exploring story structure and the impact of author decisions. This workshop breaks down a simple story such as Little Red Riding Hood, and explores how it could be different if the author changes what happens in small ways. The children use this to create their own branching narrative, either independently or in small groups. Not only does this explore story structure in a new and innovative way, but it also highlights how they always have a choice ahead of them when writing and is a great way to show them that getting stuck when writing is sometimes because they just have to make a choice about what to happen next. If we run several workshops over the duration of the festival, these could all work on a continuous story that builds as we go.

Building a character (suitable for all ages)

Matt looks at the people that we know and discusses how characters in stories are built up in layers – by what they say and do, how they act in certain situations and how this information is presented to the reader. By exploring this and creating their own characters during the workshop, children will from skills that they can use in their writing long after the session has ended.

Fightin’ Writin’ Workshops (suitable for families or children aged 8+ due to the complexity)

This is my newest workshop and an instant hit. You can explore the Fightin’ Writin’ idea and how it works in schools in full at https://www.fightinwritin.co.uk. In short, it is a practical workshop that uses miniature battles to enhance the use of vocabulary and narrative style. It removes the physical barrier of writing and encourages children to talk through their narratives, roleplay and build up a dual-narrative story. Within a festival setting, this works well as a 90-minute workshop for families or older Key Stage 2 children. It can either result in a piece of narrative writing, or a series of short character videos created by the participants.

I’m also happy to take part in readings, signing events and to give craft talks to adults and children.

For more information and costs, get in touch!