Seven students, one lead instructor, and many volunteers braved the heat this August to explore Denver with an eye for storytelling.
On the first day, we read “The Blue Jar” by Isak Dinesen and brainstormed ideas for the heroes and heroines of our stories. We completed a scavenger hunt around Baker and learned how to give our characters backstory.
This photo was taken by a blogger, Linnea Bullion, whom we met at Sweet Action. We love it and we think it captures the kids perfectly! You can check out more of her stuff on her website or on her tumblr site.
On day two, we listened to “The Distance of the Moon” by Italo Calvino, discussed the importance of setting, and visited the Botanic Gardens to find details for maps of our own imagined worlds.
The third day, we read “Baba Iaga” by Joy Williams and visited the Museum of Nature & Science to gain inspiration for our story’s villains and monsters—we also created our own survival guides.
On Thursday, we watched Jim Henson’s The Labyrinth—a favorite among the students—and learned to map out plots using the Fichtean Curve. Finally, on the last day, we talked about the revision process, made our own book covers, and students read their stories aloud to a captive audience.
The adventure tales and survival stories born from this camp feature everything from space ships and time travel to magical powers and talking palm trees. The next bestseller is here, among these pages! (COMING SOON: Read them here!)
Keep your ear to the ground for information about next year’s summer writing camps with Denver Writes. And in the meantime, check out our monthly workshops and afterschool tutoring. We can’t wait until next summer!
~Laura Miller (Lead Instructor)
