Ciaran Murtagh - Writing
Ciaran Murtagh
AIM High Writing
Summary
Age range 5 - 12 years
Books Yes
DBS Checked No
Booking
Contact
+44 (0)1535 656015
aimhigh@caboodlebooks.co.uk
Ciaran is a Bafta Award winning screenwriter and an award winning author of over thirty five books for children.
About Ciaran
Ciaran’s latest four book series – The Fincredible Diary of Fin Spencer – has been translated into many languages, is published all over the world. Ciaran is also in demand as a writer of educational fiction and you can find his titles in the Treetops, Project X, Big Cat and Rising Stars series of books.
In addition to books, Ciaran writes for some of the world’s best loved children’s programmes including Danger Mouse, The Amazing World of Gumball, Mr Bean, Shaun the Sheep, Sesame Street, Dennis and Gnasher, PJ Masks, Diddy TV, Topsy and Tim, Justin’s House, Geronimo Stilton, Henry Hugglemonster and Casper’s Scare School. He is also Head Writer on the new CITV/Aardman Animation series Lloyd of the Flies.
Ciaran’s AIM High days can be tailored for gifted or reluctant writers…
A typical day starts with Ciaran generating a story from scratch with the whole room.
As a group, the children decide on a title. They then look at the title they’ve chosen and try to figure out what sort of story the title suggests. ‘If your teacher gave you a book with that title to read, what would you expect? A horror story, a romance, a funny story or something else.’ By listening to what the title tells them, the title the children discover two things – what they’re writing about and how they’re writing it. Knowing those two facts puts them well on the way to finding a good story. To prove it Ciaran creates the story with the children using the title they’ve chosen as a starting point. Along the way he stops to consider plot points, once again taking ideas from the room. Towards the end he gives tips on how to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion – ending a story is different to stopping a story, Ciaran tells you why.
Within the first hour, the children already have a story they have helped to generate and can write in their own words later on in the day if they chose.
However, before that process starts, Ciaran does some more exercises. One gives each child their own, distinct story title to work with and a second looks at generating a character, giving each child a brand new character to write about should they wish.
By lunch time the children have a choice as to how to spend the afternoon:
They can work on the story they came up with as a group
They can work on the story they came up with on their own
They can work on the character they came up with on their own
They can combine the character and the story to bring everything together
The afternoon session is spent drafting stories with Ciaran circulating among the children to help out with ideas and give top tips where necessary. Along the way Ciaran touches on the importance of the drafting process – when you’ve finished you haven’t really finished – gives children the opportunity to quiz him on his TV and writing work and also offers a chance for children to share what they have created with the group.
At the end of the day, each child leaves with a story they have created and written themselves, a signed bookmark to say thank you for coming and a signed book if they choose to buy one. More importantly each child leaves feeling empowered by the confidence the day has given them, encouraged by the writing they have done and enthused by the process of writing, keen to take what they’ve learned back to the classroom and flourish.
A Selection of Ciaran’s Books
Bookings
To book Ciaran Murtagh please contact
aimhigh@caboodlebooks.co.uk
Ciaran also offers visits to schools and other settings, click here for more information.