In the grand lobby of Rajagiri Christu Jayanthi Public School, Kerala, the winners of the The Hindu in School ‘Classroom of the Year’ contest gathered bright and early. The writer’s workshop conducted by the Book Lovers’ Program for Schools was one of the prizes that they had won. The participants were ushered into a beautiful AV Room where the workshop was conducted.
In a book, an interesting first page hooks the reader into turning the page; in life, it is the way one introduces themselves. The participants were asked to introduce themselves in a manner that would make all others remember them, even after they left for the day. Once their identities were revealed, the participants were grouped into three teams to play the popular game of “Step on the Numbers.” This is a game that stresses on the importance of sequencing the events in a story and was an effective ice-breaker.
After many rounds of the teams trying to beat each other at the game, the workshop moved on to breaking down stories to their essential elements. Conflict, resolution, beginning, middle and end were picked out in different stories and examined in great detail. Through this exercise, the participants understand that every good story did indeed contain all these elements. The two-dimensional advancement of stories was also explained in great detail.
To put all they had learnt to test, a story chain was started wherein each student had to contribute two sentences, adding to story. Common rules such as “Don't kill the cat” and “Pass the ball” were followed. Among the stories that came together was one of a conflicted superhero and another about a friendship between a patriot and traitor.
Moving on to the concept of “Show, don’t tell,” Amrut of BLPS used examples to explain how it is always better to judge individually rather than being told about a situation or person or even a place in a story. He then asked participants to come forward and enact everyday activities in an exaggerated manner. This was described in words to show that like in a play, books need a bit of exaggeration too. Participants were given various prompts ranging from a coin to a catapult and were encouraged to use them to write a 250-word piece of flash fiction.
After the lunch break, the workshop moved on to theatre activities. A simple game of clay showed the participants how important it is to observe the expressions of people. A game of “Freeze Frame” was enjoyed by all as they tried to depict various scenarios in a funny manner.
The “want” of famous characters was explored to show that every action taken by a hero is guided by his need. The process of writing a book was also explained to all the aspiring writers.
The workshop ended with a prize distribution by the principal of the school.
The schools that attended the workshop were Believers Church Residential School, Thiruvalla; Rajagiri Christu Jayanthi Public School, Kakkanad; Rajagiri Public School, Kalamassery and Vidyodaya School.
