Writing Workshop with Sofie Laguna

On Tuesday 12^th May 20 budding young writers were treated to some wonderful insights on writing by author Sofie Laguna.  Sofie has written books for a wide range of ages from picture books, through Our Australian girl and Do you dare series to adult fiction.  Her most recent adult novel, The eye of the sheep, was nominated for the Stella book prize and has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin award.

Sofie probably surprised a lot of the audience by saying, that for her, it is always the character that comes first, not the plot. She began by getting the group to brainstorm a character of their making to demonstrate how writing can flow from a character not just from the plot.  This lead to lots of participation and Sofie was excellent at drawing responses from all the participants, even the reluctant ones.  Everyone participated with enthusiasm and remained focused for the hour and a half session.

Once they started writing the participants came up with some wonderful characters and interesting dialogue.  Probably the comment that best summed up the evening was “ It’s the first time I actually felt my character.”

Rita @ Hawthorn

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