Phoebe Stone Workshop -- UPDATED

Phoebe Stone, the critically acclaimed writer of children's books, gave a wonderful workshop on characters and voice Saturday. We had 15 students there ranging from fifth to 11th grade. Thanks to all.

Now for the online part.

For those of you at the session -- and for those who want to join in now -- the essence of the idea is this:

There is a magic butterfly which will grant to the possessor whatever is your heart's content.

While the final outcome is not completely clear, the idea is to create a character that wants, needs, desires this butterfly. Tell us why he/she wants it. Some have already posted your beginnings.

As we progress, Phoebe will post your next steps -- which will follow the normal arc of storytelling -- and then we'll decide what to do with the final product -- should we merge them and edit your work into one piece? Should we polish them and publish them as separate stories within the same "anthology" to be read in a certain sequence?

So Phoebe will soon be looking for your pieces. CREATE a NARRATIVE, keep your writing in third person -- though you can go into the thinking of your characters. Use the present tense, unless you are getting to some backstory or contextual details.
Remember these words by Phoeobe: "There are so many ways to begin writing a story. Some people start with a plot or an idea. I start with a character and a voice. Very often that character will lead me to the story/plot or I will find it within the character."

Final note: in keywords put butterfly, stone

cheerio and thanks again to Phoebe

gg