Last Wednesday, Sacred Heart College Yarrawonga was lucky enough to have Australian author Mark Smith visit to work with students.
All Year 9 students study Mark’s book ‘The Road to Winter’, so hearing his story about how he went from being a Year 9 student who never read books to a published author was really relevant to them.
Mark spoke to Year 9 students about his journey and some of what went into writing his post-apocalyptic trilogy before running creative writing workshops with each class.
The students are currently doing a creative task where they use the book as inspiration for their own work, so it was perfectly timed for them as they were able to workshop their ideas with Mark and get excited about their final draft.
They got some great advice, such as writing what you know, creating problems for your characters and having a hook to get your reader into your story straight away.
Mark finished off the day with a masterclass for keen readers and writers from all year levels, working with them to write about ideas they are passionate about.
Mark’s latest book ‘If Not Us’ is a young adult novel that deals with the issue of climate change in today’s world, so he had firsthand advice for them which inspired them to get writing.
It was a fantastic day and the students got so much out of hearing from Mark and sharing their ideas.
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