Nette's background in teaching and a million other jobs have left her well equipped with story ideas. Her best known books are The Web and Proper Little Lady, both of which were shortlisted and winners in The Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Awards. Using her teaching background, Nette can develop plans with all grades which then enhance the students' appreciation and understanding of narrative.  She has visited a great many schools and inspired many children to write - including two past winners of the Nestle competition.

Session Information

Primary Level for Resistant Writers.  – 45 minutes.
This session is aimed at students who don’t want to write. It uses minimal text and illustration to tell stories. Students often become involved in wanting to add more text once they have seen the potential of their stories.

Write Me A Story With Ten Words.

After a brief introduction and talk about Nette’s books, students are invited to share some of the problems they experience with their own writing. These invariably centre on:

•    finding ideas
•    getting stuck in the middle
•    getting stuck at the end.
•    Punctuation.

Students are taken through the structure of narrative using a visualisation and process which allows them to experience story making without the problem of adding words (essentially this is a group story making session which empowers them with the structure of narrative as set out in the work sessions for 3-4). Because of the needs of the students (who may not like the idea of story writing), this part of the session is strongly driven by the author.

Once students have completed the structure and have accepted that narrative has a structure that needs to be evident, then we move to making stories from a two word basis.
At the end of this session students can make their own 8 page books:
individually – being the writer and the illustrator
            as a team – one writer, one illustrator
                      as a group – scribes and illustrators

 There is always a question time at the end of the session.

•    as a group
•    as a class
•    individually
•    pairs – one writer, one illustrator

•    finding ideas
•    getting stuck in the middle
•    getting stuck at the end.
•    Punctuation.

Using a narrative structure and imagery, the students are taken through a map of making a draft of a story. They can see how there are many paths open to them and how an idea can trigger many other ideas.
They work through one group story in the session but, as there are many other stories jotted down as we work, there is opportunity for other stories to be developed later on.
This session is primarily about story structure with a brief reference to the role of punctuation.
There is always time allowed at the end of the session for questions about the author, the author’s books or children’s own writing.
At the end of the session students:

•    have a map that can be used for drafting stories
•    will be able to go and complete the story drafted during the session either individually or as a group.

•    finding ideas
•    getting stuck in the middle
•    getting stuck at the end.
•    Punctuation.

Using a game principle and introducing the concept of antagonist as one who is acting against the protagonist, students are shown how to develop a map for drafting their stories. They will be able to see, prior to beginning their writing, where the pitfalls of their story-telling might be, how the story is resolved, how to maintain tension and cliff-hangers and how to adjust the events as they are needed. This is an intensive lesson which can be presented as:

•    a demonstration – 45 minutes
•    workshop - 45 minutes as demonstration

40 minutes writing time
20 minutes sharing. 

During this time there will be a 20 minute break between the demonstration and the writing time and similar brief break between the writing and sharing time.

The ‘sharing time’ at the end of the workshop session is from one student to another. This level of sharing is to meet the immediate gratification needs that all writers experience at the end of their work. It is not intended to be an editorial time – the editorial work would be best done at a later time when students have been able to distance themselves a little from their work.

At the end of the sessions there is always a time for questions about books, authorship and students’ own writing problems.
 

Level 4 - 5 – (Years 7 – 9) "Remember The Audience" – 45–60 minutes.

In many instances new writers experience difficulty working on narrative as they adopt the mode of reader or viewer when telling their story. In this workshop students will:

• use a map to draft a narrative without moving from their role as writer
• trouble shoot their text prior to undertaking their full written narrative
• identify the need for reviewing the whole. (Genre, viewpoint are discussed here)
• editing sheets – how to develop your own.

As a consequence of this experience, writers are better able to work as readers as they will be able to see beyond the text to the author's intention.Time is allowed at the beginning of the workshop for a brief author introduction and at the end for questions.
Reference during these sessions will be made to my own work – "Living Next To Lulah", "Sprite Downberry" and other young adult fiction.

Level 4 – 5 (Years 7 – 9) "Being Centre Stage – You Just Can't Help It." – 45–60 minutes

1 Hour Workshop suitable for Years 7 – 9 Character development is the key to good story telling. Characters control plot and without a good understanding of the characters at the centre of your story it becomes difficult to keep the narrative on track. In this workshop students will:

• consider themselves and their motivations.
• develop simple characters and write up their wish list
• place their characters in conflict situations
• develop a list of verbs that describe their character's movements.
• explore the concept of 'show' not 'tell'.

Time is allowed at the beginning of the workshop for a brief author introduction and at the end for questions. Reference during these sessions will be made to my own work – "Living Next To Lulah", "Sprite Downberry" and other young adult fiction.

Level 4 – 5 (Years 7 – 10) "Viewing The Book." – 45–60 minutes

This workshop is based in some of the requirements for script writing. An understanding of how a narrative works in film is an excellent strategy that can be used by prose writers for analyzing plot, structure and pacing in their own work. During this workshop students will experience:

• back story and its place in a narrative (both film and book)
• structure – a more demanding structure is required when producing a film script
• Show not tell
• Linear narrative and how to keep a story moving forward
• Heightened visual awareness (the silence of gesture – how to capture it on film and how to translate it into words).

Script writing as an excellent tool for informing writers about their own work.Time is allowed at the beginning of the workshop for a brief author introduction and at the end for questions. Reference during these sessions will be made to my own work – "Living Next To Lulah", "Sprite Downberry" and other young adult fiction.

Level 4 – 5 (Years 7 – 10) "The Partnership of Picture Books." – 45–60 minutes

Picture books are as elusive to complete as poetry. They have their own parameters and editorial requirements but, with a little bit of luck and a good 'ear' texts can be produced and developed reasonably quickly. This is an excellent opportunity for students to:

• experience the nature of picture book making by working alone
• experience the nature of picture book making by working in pairs
• experience the nature of picture book making by working from text first
• experience the nature of picture book making by working from illustrations first
• look at story boards
• explore I.T. as a medium for picture book production.

Time is allowed at the beginning of the workshop for a brief author introduction and at the end for questions. Reference will be made to many picture books, including my own.

Young Adult Workshops and Author Visits

Any workshop that is listed here can be reviewed and reworked to suit your year level and their needs. There is always the opportunity to work with teachers to develop a unit that will suit the needs of their students and their school.

"Thank you again for a wonderful visit.  Also, one girl came in on Wednesday and announced she was starting on her book.  Thank you for being such an inspiration."

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School, Coorparoo, September, 2011.

"We have had a wonderful time with Nette. She was engaging, professional and adapted quickly to the needs of all our students. I have had loads of positive comments from both staff and students. As well as that, she was great company!"

Nette was fantastic.  Staff and students raved about her and students hung on her every word. My huge thanks for your recommendation of Nette, and to Nette herself for her engaging and wonderful learning experience for our students.

Craigslea State School, October, 2010

Nette’s sessions went extremely well and the students and teachers really enjoyed it. She was an excellent presenter and really engaged the children for the entire 45mins (no easy task for some classes).

"Nette is a hit! She is just lovely and so easy to work with. The classroom teacher she was with yesterday has nothing but praise for Nette and said she was hanging on every word!"

Michelle Witheyman-Crump of West Moreton Anglican College