School Visits

I've done quite a few of these over the last few months and very enjoyable they have been too. The whole point of the session is to get everyone thinking about storytelling, how to build ideas and turn them into tales. There's a chance to join in with some acting and the event's made to include as much pupil participation  as possible. The feedback from schools has been great, so if you would like to find out what it's like to be a writer, pick up a few tips and get in touch with your inner Templar, drop me an email and I'll see what I can do.

How it works (in theory)

Main Presentation takes about 50 minutes and it's aimed at the Year 7-10's. It's roughly broken down into the following:

1. I talk a bit about me and my book, then we'll discuss what's hot and what's not in the big heady world of publishing, especially interesting if there are any budding JK Rowlings or Stephenie Meyers out there.

2. I read a bit of Devil's Kiss, to give the pupils a flavour of the world the book's set in. It's a modern day gothic horror story, so be warned. 

3. We'll talk about who the characters are, what they want and the pupils will brainstorm how they would resolve the story if it was up to them. We use this time to build characters and understand motivation and conflict within story telling.

4. We''ll put up the best ideas and use it to create a scene, one with tension, drama, maybe even a few laughs. Then some of the pupils will get their chance to act the scene out to the wonderment and applause of their fellow pupils.

5. I will read out how I resolved the scene, and we'll have a chance to compare notes. I've found the pupils' resolution is usually a lot more violent than mine!

6. We wrap up with a questions and answers and a book signing. 

I've done this with groups ranging from 30 to almost 400, so it works well for bigger audiences. Props are minimal, I bring my own sword, and all I need is a whiteboard or large pad so the people at the back can read what's going on.

 

Workshops

I also do workshops too, where we look in a little more detail into the dark and mysterious art of writing. Depending on time we can cover a lot of ground. The sessions are also pretty flexible, I'm happy to look at various areas of storytelling, be it plotting, scene setting or character creation and development. I'll use the Plotting session as an example.

Plotting- Most stories can be broken down into a series of key events. This isn't really a formula as such but it's more about how life happens. A story, in its most fundamental level, is about learning. Its about a character facing a challenge, suffering set backs, learning and developing themselves to finally triumph.  But from this core most of the world's stories and myths have sprung. We'll use the Plotting session to investigate and define the key events within several well known stories to understand their structure. The pupils will collectively build a story over the session. 

This session works best with a normal class size of about 30 or so. Who knows, you may come up with the next Harry Potter, in which case I'd like 15% of all royalities, please.

Next Step

If you're interested in me visiting your school or want to talk about what I offer, it's easy. Just drop me a line via my Contact Me page and we'll discuss what would work best for your school.

Satisfied customers

This is from my recent visit to sunny Texas. See the Gallery page for the very cool video of my visit to Kingwood High School.

Sarwat Chadda rocked Kingwood High School during his presentation for Devil’s Kiss. The audience was continually engaged with questions from Sarwat, whiteboard diagrams, and volunteers acting out character roles with props furnished by the author. The session passed quickly with much laughter, applause, and author/student interaction. Sarwat engaged us all, and left us clamoring for book 2.

Susan Schilling, Kingwood High School

We were so excited to have Sarwat visit St. John's Middle School.  The kids were so impressed that we got him on the first day of his first book tour ever!  Sarwat graciously conducted writer workshops for two of our 8th grade classes.  He hooked the kids by reading part of the first chapter and then had them write the next scene.  The best, though, they actually to had to perform it.  Sarwat was impressed with their enthusiasm that he forgot he was "directing" the scene.  The kids are still talking about his visit and are anxiously awaiting the next installment of Billi Sangreal!

Maribel Castro, Middle School Librarian, St. John's Middle School