Writing for Children and Young Adults

Writing for Children and Young Adults

This course will be a clear starting point for anyone who wishes to write for children and young adults, but doesn’t know where to begin.

The course is aimed at beginners who have a great imagination for characters, places and plots who want to turn these into competent, captivating pieces of writing.

It will help you develop a personal style to your work, comparing and contrasting your approach with successful writers today.

Through group discussions and critiques, you’ll explore the process, creativity and business of writing for children and young adults, and how you can develop your role in this exciting world.

On this course, you will:

• be introduced to the basics of writing for children and young adults
• take part in a various of short exercises in the classroom and at home
• explore narrative voice, plot and point of view
• learn how to find inspiration
• develop a piece of writing, and create a plan of what to do with it after the course.

What will you gain?

You’ll leave with a firm understanding of how to write for a younger audience, along with various samples of your writing to be developed further.

Where you'll learn: You will be studying creative writing in a UNESCO City of Literature, and be based in the School of Arts and Humanities on the City Campus.

You will find modern teaching spaces and quiet study environments to develop your ideas and writing.

You’ll also have access to our library to use outside of your short course; whilst you can’t reserve or take away books, you are welcome to use them as a resource for research and referencing.

Tutor profile: Sam Maxfield is the author of six published novels.

Her novel The Last Resort was longlisted for the Mslexia Women’s Novel of the Year.

Sam’s other books include Mapton Rising, Must Be Mapton, West Of The Sunset, The Army Of Righteous Deliverance and the children’s book Maddie’s Magic Christmas.

She is a writer and freelance lecturer with an MA in Writing.

She specialises in teaching, English literature, creative writing, and film studies.

Sam lecturers in FE and HE, and gives talks to a variety of organisations and groups.

She has also worked as Film Education Officer at Broadway Cinema in Nottingham, developing and delivering courses to a range of ages, and still regularly teaches courses for Broadway.

Her courses include film literacy, fairy tales in film, star theory and literary adaptations.

Need accommodation for the summer?

You can book a self-catered, single room with private bathroom on our city campus, right next door to our studios and classrooms. Accommodation can be booked online via the course homepage.