Words on the Page: Writing Children’s and YA Fiction with Claire Hennessy

Course Summary

If you’d like to write for young people but aren’t sure where to begin – this course is for you! We’ll explore the current children’s and YA market, looking at different age ranges/categories, and then delve into how to create compelling characters, plots and voices for a particular audience, with a final session on submitting your work to publishers and agents. Through discussions, examples, and exercises, you’ll learn how to develop your skill in this particular field of writing.

Course Outline

In this interactive and engaging workshop, we’ll explore the challenges of writing for young people, and in particular the need to understand the current marketplace of children’s and YA fiction, especially age ranges and word counts. Once we have a clearer sense of what age group/s you may wish to write for, we’ll look into developing character, plot, and voice with a particular focus on writing from a young perspective with authenticity and empathy. In the final session we’ll cover how to effectively pitch your work to publishers and agents (and how to build creative resilience).

• Monday: Kidlit and YA today: age ranges
• Tuesday: Developing young characters; voice and point-of-view
• Wednesday: Building plot; developing setting
• Thursday: Refining your work
• Friday: Publishing Q&A

Course Outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will have a clearer understanding of children’s and YA fiction as it exists today, and have a strong sense of what age group/s they might want to write for and understand the challenges associated with that. They will have learned about fiction essentials – plot, character, voice – with a specific focus on writing for young people, and have a stronger sense of how to edit and refine their work and how to go about pitching their work to publishers/agents.

At the end of the week, participants are invited to sign up to read their work at a showcase on Friday 10th July from 5-7pm.

Claire Hennessy is a writer, editor, and creative writing facilitator with more than 20 years of experience delivering workshops to schools, libraries, arts centres and festivals, for both young people and adults. She is the author of twelve YA novels, has worked in children’s publishing, and has reviewed YA fiction for the Irish Times since 2015.

Booked out? To be added to the waiting list for this course, please email bookings@irishwriterscentre.ie.