Calling young authors: The Booth Library Creative Writing Group for Young Adults will offer Fiction this winter.

Students in grades 6-8 who love to write will be led by Wally Wood, teacher, author and Newtown resident, with assistance from Linda Strange, a committed volunteer assistant in the Creative Writing program and teacher in Waterbury. All sessions will allow time for writing and sharing short stories in progress as well as one-on-one communication between adults and young people.

The writing group is a great opportunity for young writers to hone their skills and develop their own technique. The prompts and exercises will focus on building characters, describing place, creating situations, and developing a story’s framework.

Mr Wood will be leading the young fiction writers for his ninth consecutive year. He is not only a local author, he has also taught writing to teens and adults in the Connecticut and New York State prison systems.

He has a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing from the City University of New York and published his second novel, The Girl in the Photo, in August. He has also recently finished a new business book about mobile, big data, cloud computing, and social media for a San Francisco-based client, and continues to translate Japanese fiction into English.

“We’ve found that the students are stimulated by hearing the works of their peers,” he says. “The goal of the class is to help the students create their own stories and find their own voices. We will spend roughly a third of the time writing, a third of the time reading our work aloud, and a third of the time discussing the works and fictional technique.” 

The group will meet from 6 to 8 pm on six Tuesday evenings: January 7, 14, 21, 28, February 4, and 11; February 18 will be a make-up date if necessary.

There is a limit of ten students in grades 6-8. There is no fee.

Participants are expected to attend all six sessions, and preference is given to Newtown students and residents.

Registration can be done online or by calling the library, 203-426-4533. For more information, speak to YA Librarian Kim Weber.

Creative Writing for Young Adults is an ongoing program at the library, funded by the Friends of the Library. Groups are offered throughout the year in different genres: playwriting in the fall; fiction in the winter; mysteries and thrillers in the spring. In summer there are two groups in a Writing Camp divided by age, who write in a variety of genres.

All enthusiastic young writers are encouraged to participate in this opportunity to develop their style in a friendly, relaxed group setting with guidance from experienced authors and teachers.