English News 

Creative Writing Workshop  

On Tuesday 29 March during lunch time, a small group of students (including myself) participated in the Takeover Melbourne Workshop, organised by Ms Lee-Ack and the Creative Writing Club. Takeover Melbourne is a story-telling competition run by the ABC that focuses on the real-life experiences of Melbourne’s youth; stories about young people written by young people. The workshop, run by one of the ABC’s producers, centred around helping us explore our own experiences to form the basis of a personal story. We were encouraged to think of our passions; the things we really love and are interested in, our challenges; things that we might have gone through or ongoing obstacles we have faced, and our strengths; abilities and traits that we have gained from making it through those challenges. We then delved into the memory of a challenge we had overcome, exploring it in detail, and attempting to describe it using the five senses; the idea was that this could be used as the beginning of our story. We also listened to the stories of previous year’s winners and discovered that the stories with the most impact tended to consist of three main things: a passion, how it was impacted by a challenge, and what was learned or gained from the experience. I found the workshop a great opportunity to reflect on myself and the things I’ve experienced, and how they might relate to or even be able to help other young people like myself. The competition is currently open to all 12-18-year-olds living, working or studying in Melbourne, and everyone is encouraged to submit their own story. Entries close on the 25th of June. If you would like to find out more, or are looking to submit your story, go to the Takeover Melbourne website at www.abc.net.au/radio/melbourne/programs/takeover-melbourne/ 

Zeana Cole - Creative Writing Club Leader  

Year 10