Raglan Inkspillers Writers Collective is due to host its second workshop at the Raglan Old School Arts Centre next month.
‘Getting Started in Writing for Children’ will be run on Saturday 12 November from 9am to noon, and will be led by local children’s author Sarah Johnson, and author, illustrator and designer Matt Kambic.
The workshop is aimed at anyone who’s thought they’d like to write a children’s book, but hasn’t known where or how to start. It will also suit those who have started their writing journey, but need a bit of encouragement or tips to keep going. Topics covered will include formats and genres, tips for developing a strong plot (that children will love), the all-important relationship between pictures and words, and options for getting your work out there, via traditional publishing routes or otherwise.
Writing for Children is the second workshop run by Inkspillers this spring. On Saturday 4 October, author, musician, and lyricist Lynne Wilkins held her workshop on ‘Creative business: Earning Your Living by Doing What You Love’. This is a popular theme for Lynne, who in her business life is passionate about supporting creative people to make a viable living from their art, and has run iterations of this workshop throughout the Waikato for several years.
Although only attended by a small crew, Lynne is planning to run the workshop again soon to enable those who were unable to attend the first time due to sickness to come along.
Raglan Inkspillers Writers Collective was set up in 2019 to help raise the profile of writers and the written and spoken word in Whaingaroa Raglan and surrounding areas. A 2021 grant from Waikato District Council was used to develop an Inkspillers website, which the group plans to use as a platform for sharing local writers’ work and word-related events.
The group also hopes its workshops will become an annual thing, encouraging local writing connections, and boosting community access to creative skills. Inkspiller members work across a wide range of literary genres, and include poets and playwrights, song writers, memoirists and contemporary fiction writers, all keen to share their skills.
To find out more or register for the ‘Getting Started in Writing for Children’ workshop email inkspillersraglan@gmail.com
