Stephen Davies - Writing

Stephen Davies updated.jpg — ***Summary***

Age range ***3 to 16***
Books ***Yes***
DBS Checked ***Yes***
***Booking***
Contact
+44 (0)1535 656015
aimhigh@caboodlebooks.co.uk

Stephen Davies is a former teacher and award-winning author of over twenty picture books, chapter books and young adult novels. He loves visiting schools and encouraging budding writers, especially on AIM High Writing Days.

About Stephen

For more than seven years, Stephen has run Aim High Days up and down the country. His aim is always to reinforce what students have learned in their English lessons, challenge them with advanced techniques and inspire them to take up writing as a pleasurable hobby.

Stephen’s AIM High Writing Days

Stephen welcomes the children at the start of the day and learns as many names as possible. He does everything he can to put them at their ease, with general book chat and a couple of ice-breakers. After that, the content of the day is as follows:

Years 1 and 2

Inspired by Stephen’s Hilda books, the children dream up monsters which seem terrifying but in reality are not. Each child designs their own monster and labels it with expanded noun phrases. Then they learn techniques for creating suspense – revealing potential danger slooowly for maximum excitement. Stephen’s advice is interspersed with periods of speed-writing and opportunities for students to share snippets of their writing with each other and with the whole group. In the afternoon, the children focus on plot, creating hilarious storyboards to plan out their stories.

Years 3 and 4

Inspired by Stephen’s book Sophie and the Albino Camel, this A.I.M. High Writing Day is all about the importance of character. Clever plotting is all very well, but a flat character ruins any story. Students create intriguing, believable characters based on photos from the book Where Children Sleep. Stephen guides them in creating detailed character profiles and in launching each character into a suitable adventure. Again, Stephen’s advice is interspersed with periods of speed-writing and opportunities for students to share. In the afternoon we talk about plotting, exploring the useful maxim ‘Chase your character up a tree, and then throw stones at him!’

Years 5 and 6

Inspired by Stephen’s book Survivor Titanic, the children will be guided through the process of creating a survival story, from idea to completion. This is a challenging day, designed to stretch students to their authorial limits! Stephen has run Titanic-themed days all over the world and feedback has always been excellent. The day ends with ten minutes of Q and A about writing and publishing. Writers in this age group are often interested in the process of getting a book published. Stephen’s aim here is not to talk a lot about himself, but to encourage the students to see themselves as writers, and inspire them with practical ways to develop their craft.