Write Like a Boss Creative Writing for Gifted Kids is run by G.A.T.E.WAYS Education for their Beyond Online program.
Over four weeks, you’ll be sharpening your writing skills to get that Write Like a Boss edge. First, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the three-act structure—setup, confrontation, and resolution—that holds every great story together. Next, we’ll explore how to make your story come alive with interesting characters who appear to be stereotypical but end up revealing a mind-blowing side to themselves that readers would never expect. You’ll be learning the partnering of story arc and your character arc, plots, and beats that move your story forward. Then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and whip your story into shape with show rather than tell immersive writing exercises. The grand finale will be a dose of good fun with dialogue practice where we get to guess who’s speaking simply through your choice of words, slang and dialects.
Click here to register. Spaces are limited so book in early.
Session One – Are You a Plotter or a Pantser?
It’s so easy to write a story, yeah? All you need to do is stir up the imagination and see what pops out. Is that what you do? Well, you sound like you’re a Pantser instead of a Plotter. Would I be right? While there’s nothing wrong with being a Pantser, writing like a boss needs some plotter skills. Interested?
In this session, we’re going to learn about story arcs and character arcs, and choosing a theme for your story. Then we’ll discuss points A, B, and C in your storyline. What’s that you ask? It’s the MasterChef recipe for a delicious story. Relax, you won’t have to eat it—just write it by using good quality writing ingredients. Give it a go, Pantser. And if you’re already a Plotter, you may want to check you’re using the right ingredients.
In this session, we’ll explore the three-act structure—setup, confrontation, and resolution—that holds every great story together.
Session Two – Creating Superstarish Characters
A story without interesting characters is kind of blah. After all, the engaging part of a story is caring about what happens to the characters, right? So, what kind of words do we normally use to describe characters? Is there a more creative way to describe characters that will stir our curiosity? Do you tend to stereotype characters without realising it? Or do your characters portray superhuman qualities that make them unbelievable in a normal world setting?
In this session, we’ll explore the art of creating interesting characters and plan out the character arcs that will make your story a satisfying read. We’ll have some fun experimenting with how stereotypical characters can show a surprising side to themselves that readers will not expect.
Session Three – Invite Me Into Your World
Would you agree that we tell stories? After all, the word storytelling describes the telling of stories, right? So, it might come across as a bit strange if someone asked you to show me the story, right? How does storyshowing sound? ‘Hello, I’m a storyshower.’ A bit weird? Yeah, I thought you’d think that. You might get confused and think I tell sop stories in the shower. So, what’s with all this show rather than tell stuff come from?
In this session, we’ll learn how showing rather than telling can invite your reader to experience the story as if they were seeing it themselves. We’ll explore the art of showing rather than telling through immersive writing.
Session Four – The Power of The Tongue
Writing believable dialogue is not as easy as it sounds. But great dialogue can do a lot of showing rather than telling when it comes to describing your characters and their backgrounds. Think of words like: ‘Gidday, mate.’ ‘Aye, lassie.’ ‘Shiver me timbers!’ Any guesses as to the type of characters and backgrounds these words might link to? It makes it easier to know who’s talking just by the dialogue you use to distinguish characters. By writing personalised dialogue, you won’t need to write, said, Bob or said Sue after every line of dialogue.
In this session, we’ll have some fun with dialogue and discuss what might be too heavy-handed, especially when it comes to slang. You’ll learn how to find the balance between distinguishing dialogue that is still understandable and dialogue that verges on an alien language that readers will find difficult to understand.