Welcome to Creative Writing

Hello, I wanted to introduce myself as the seventh and eighth grade creative writing teacher. I've gotten a chance to meet the students and am looking forward to a great year.

I've taught creative writing at St. Paul's since January 2010. My friend Mr. Engle let me know of the position and I jumped at the chance to teach at St. Paul's.

My 9-5 job is writing children's books. I'm the author of more than 40 nonfiction books on topics ranging from pro wrestlers to genetic engineering, and my fictional picture book, Mustache Baby, comes out next Spring. I occasionally appear on Fox 4 Morning News to promote reading and connect families with books they love.

I grew up in Kansas City, attended St. Teresa's Academy, and have always wanted to be a writer. My husband Justin and I have three sons, Johnny, 12, Richie, 10, and J.J., 6, who attend St. Elizabeth School.

My goal as a creative writing teacher is to teach kids how stories work and how to work their way through writing a story. I encourage them to revise, revise, revise. At the same time, I encourage students to have fun with writing, find their own voice, and not to over-think things. At some point, you have to start typing and see what happens.

Most of our work will be done in class; however, the students will have some homework. My email address is below. Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.

The students were given the following handout, which states the classroom rules and syllabus:

Creative Writing
Mrs. Heos
Bridget.Heos@gmail.com

Rules:

All assignments must be typed, except for the Storybird and picture book. Assignments not turned in on time, unless due to absence, will result in that assignment’s grade being lowered by 10 percent.

Please come in, be seated, and clear your desk of everything but a notebook, pen or pencil, and assignment. Please follow common sense and politeness. Be nice to each other. Failure to adhere to class rules will result in detention.

Syllabus:

Introduction

• Getting to know you worksheet.

Story of My Life

• Learn the three elements of first person narratives: voice, problem, and underlying problem.
• Write a short personal essay, incorporating voice, a problem, and an underlying problem.

Young Adult

• Learn the 10 types of stories.
• Choose one, and write the first chapter of a YA novel in the first person.
• Plot a movie based on your novel.

Poetry

• Read poems.
• Write various types of poems.
• Write a Storybird poem.

Picture Book

• Study picture books.
• Make a 32-page picture book (Note: Picture books do not have many words per page.)