For Young People

Why is writing so hard? You know what you want to say, but when you try to write down your ideas, your brain starts to hurt. Maybe you've been staring at a blank page for so long that you begin to doze off. Or perhaps you've been toiling away trying to capture your idea only to realize your paragraph seems horribly dull. Most writers wrestle with these issues but learn ways to make the writing process less painful. In this fourteen-week class, you will pick up a few tricks of the trade so you too don't have to suffer (as much).

Working with both fiction and non-fiction texts, you will learn how to take notes, make outlines, give presentations, craft clear sentences, compose focused paragraphs, and edit assignments. Furthermore, your study skills will improve as you deconstruct the texts, extract important bits of information, and rewrite in your own words. 

As you master new tools, you will first practice them together with the whole class. Only when you feel confident, will you start independently writing your weekly assignment. If you suddenly feel stuck or frustrated, we will work through the confusion together.

This class is based on the methods from the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) where I am an accredited instructor.

Have you ever wondered how writers weave their stories? Is there a secret formula that all stories share? Do writers bury clues so curious and clever readers can uncover what lies beneath the surface of their story? 

During this ten-week class, we explore these questions. You learn how to think about literature and how to engage in the “Great Conversation” that has inspired writers, readers, and philosophers for millennia to ponder what it means to be human and what makes a good life. You begin to recognize and understand common literary devices, symbols, themes, character archetypes, plot structure, and more. 

In this class we’re not practicing to be bookworms: we are training to be book dragons!

Note: This class was previously called Crash Course in Literature Analysis.

Past classes include:

How to Be a Writer: For Kids

How to Be a Book Dragon: For Kids

StoryWriters' Workshop

Tumbleweed Writers' Workshop

Crash Course in Public Speaking

How to Write an Essay

Class descriptions sent on request.

For help with reading, writing, researching, and presenting. 

Tuition: 

One-on-one: 30 minutes, €25

Small group: 1 hour, €25

Available in Leiden or online, Central European Standard Time (CET)

Leiden Location: BplusC Bibliotheek (Library)

Nieuwstraat 4, 2312 KB

The closest parking is at the Hoogvliet supermarket. The main parking entrance is located at Kaardesteeg 11, 2311 KN Leiden. From there, it should be a five minute walk to the library.