Kickstarts! A Writing Workshop

By Brittney Cassity

Kickstarts! Is an 18 week writing workshop for all ages captured inside the pages of a handy book. Who's it for? Everybody! Kickstarts! was written for reluctant and blocked writers, and for those just looking to put the FUN back into the creative writing process.
We all have those times when the words don't flow or they do but they are heading down the same old river with the same old scenery. Whether you are are a student who can think of about a million other things that you would rather be doing than writing that English assignment, or a veteran author who has spent the last chunk of time staring at a blank page where words should be, this workshop is for you!
Broken into 18 fun and easy ways to tackle writing from new perspectives, Kickstarts! is a great way to shake off the dust and find a variety of ways to boost your writing to the next level. Enjoy it on your own or use each lesson as a group challenge. The choice is yours! Just make sure that you focus on the joy of the creative writing process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brittney Cassity
• Release date: Jul 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463556658

Brittney Cassity

In 2007, while her husband was working in Iraq, Brittney Cassity took up her pencil, paintbrush and commercial art background to create a book for her sons. It centered around the bedtime stories she had been telling them involving the adventures of a rather small dragon. The book born in 2008 from this process and a lot of support from her family was named Fiddlebug and has since touched more children and their parents than could have been guessed when the first words landed on the page. Fiddlebug and his friends are even now giggling their way to future stories that bring families closer and carry sweet dreams to little minds.Then, in 2010, a feisty new character sprang into being in the middle grade chapter book, Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny. Written in her newly acquired tree house studio in the front yard – repurposed the second her boys outgrew it – Clyde firmly settled Brittney’s feet on the writing path. The book also introduced Brittney to a whole new audience and led to the creation of “Kick Starts for Creative Writers”, a six week workshop intended to help reluctant writers find ways to make the blocks dissolve and the process more fun.The Wednesday’s Words Weekly Planner, released in 2011, is an offshoot from a former weekly blog and helps Brittney keep a very busy schedule of homeschooling, writing, illustrating, workshop presentation, school visits, and other special events in order... and in perspective.When she is not happily swimming in the waters of her literary life, Brittney spends her time marveling at her luck in living with one spectacular husband, two phenomenal (and almost grown) sons and a menagerie of furry, four-legged family members in a log cabin on the side of a beautiful West Virginian mountain.

Book preview

Kickstarts! Writing Workshop

by Brittney Cassity

Copyright 2019 Brittney Cassity

E-book Edition

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Lesson One

The Stuff You Have Lying Around

Week One – Using an Object to Build a Character

Week Two – Part 1 – Using an Object to Build a Plot

Week Three – Part 2 – Using an Object to Build a Plot

Lesson Two

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Week Four – Paintings

Week Five – Sculptures and Statues

Week Six – Photographs

Lesson Three

Writing Notes

Week Seven – Setting and Mood

Week Eight – Theme Music

Week Nine – Story in a Song

Lesson Four

Borrowing History for Fiction

Week Ten – Important Places and Things

Week Eleven – People of the Past

Lesson Five

Unfamiliar Territory

Week Twelve – Inside

Week Thirteen – Outside

Week Fourteen – The Traveling Story

Lesson Six

What if…

Week Fifteen – The Test Drive

Week Sixteen – Save the Stranded

Week Seventeen – Playing Favorites

Week Eighteen – The Jar of Possibilities

About the Author

~*~ A QUICK NOTE ABOUT KICKSTARTS ~*~

Hello to all of the parents, teachers, and caregivers out there who might be using this workshop as part of a lesson plan or enrichment program!

Some of you may have already taken a look at the first week of the Kickstarts! Writing Workshop. If you haven't I hope you will check it out! I promise it's full of fun ways to reduce writing stress and get the words flowing again.

For those of you who might find it a little wordy for your little ones (or bigger ones for that matter), I have some helpful hints that should remove any fears you have about using Kickstarts! to help motivate your young (or not so young) writer to participate.

1. Put the lesson in your own words. I tend to rattle on sometimes when giving directions. It works as motivation for some but it can also intimidate shaky readers. When you remove all of the extra words that are meant to make the post feel more like an interactive class than directions for a project, the idea can be stated in some pretty simple terms.

2. If attention spans are short, keep the