Writing Children’s and YA Fiction with Claire Hennessy
Info
Date: September 23, 2025
Time: 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm
Duration: 6 weeks
Cost: €190 (€171 Members)
Location: Online
This course will take place online on Tuesdays (six sessions in total).
Find further information on our building access here.
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 week we’ll cover how to effectively pitch your work to publishers and agents (and how to build creative resilience).
Week 1: Kidlit and YA today: age ranges
Week 2: Developing young characters
Week 3: Building plot
Week 4: Voice and point-of-view
Week 5: Refining your work
Week 6: Publishing Q&A
Course Outcomes
By the end of this course, participants will have generated a lot of new work and reflected critically on their writing processes. They should have some work that they can see themselves continuing with and developing beyond the course, and/or some clearer strategies for how to maintain creative momentum.
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 info@irishwriterscentre.ie.
