World-building and other stories
Julian Mortimer Smith and four other authors in Nova Scotia are in line to spend two hours each talking creative writing with the eight- to 12-year-old crowd. Offered by the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS), authors and registrants will meet over March Break and, well, make up stories.
It's about “creativity, having fun and,” according to Linda Hudson, WFNS arts and education officer, “letting them be free with their imaginations.”
Every morning an author presides on Zoom, bringing specialties to share. The authors represent a variety of genres, including nonfiction, fiction, poetry, mystery and science fiction fantasy.
Described as an interactive experience, participants are invited to talk about their writing, experiment with a few learned tools of the craft and create whatever and however much they want.
Designed for younger writers, Hudson said young teens also sometimes join the group.
The five authors selected for the camp are, assured Hudson, personable, experienced, enjoy working with kids and are good at it.
Hudson is excited to have Julian Mortimer Smith for one day.
“Julian has a strong background in science fiction fantasy, and kids really love genre writing. He'll talk about ‘world-building,'” she said. “The kids have fun.”
Julian Mortimer Smith
Author of The World of Dew and Other Stories (2021, Indiana University Press), Julian Mortimer Smith is an acclaimed short story writer in the genre of science fiction fantasy. From his home in Yarmouth, N.S., Mortimer Smith described writing for the genre — and specifically creating a new world — as quite exciting.
“World-building lets us imagine different worlds or different realities; lets us imagine our own world in a new way. As soon as I start to imagine our world being different in some way there is a natural instinct to explore that and see where it takes me. It's similar to exploring another country, or culture or city. Sometimes it can feel like there's something new around every corner … Even though I'm making it up in my own head, it feels like I'm exploring something that's unknown to me.”
Some of the most creative world builders are kids, and while creativity is the star of the March Break camp, Mortimer-Smith hopes the young scribes will also give some attention to the characters.
“The story always takes priority over the world. What the readers are going to be interested in is the story of your characters and the way that your characters interact with that world. So even if you invented an entire city and have drawn on the map, only the street that your character lives on is going to be relevant.”
No barriers
The fee for March Break creative writers camp is affordable for many at $39 per family for the entire week and there are some scholarships available.
“We don't want the fee to be a barrier. If the fee is a barrier, come talk to us,” said Hudson.
Each registrant will receive a complimentary package of five books written by the participating authors. Joining Julian Mortimer Smith over March Break is Deidre Dwyer, Chad Lucas, Sherry D. Ramsey and Sarah Sawler.
Visit writers.ns.ca to register a child for the Creative Writing March Break ca