We'll Call It the 'Jack Attack 2023' as, Once Again, Young Novelists & Teacher Leaders Collaborated for a Workshop on Dialogue & Script-Writing

It's a tradition. I love it. I take the names of all participants and I write a script that actually is the workshop. Every one has a part and by the end, they realize they are powerless because I made them act, work, behave, and perform in ways they probably prefer not do. But they do it. They laugh. They groan at my humor. Most importantly, they get the point that writing is powerful (for the writer) and that they, too, can put dialogue to page. 

This year, the teachers have Sonya Huber's Voice First which adds many phenomenal layers to the conversation.

In this year's rendition, because of the size of the crowd (and all the characters in the script), I couldn't have a dress up dance party in the middle of the room. Instead, I casted our youngest writer, Jack, to say, "Oh, great. I get the worst part of the entire script," and he ran up to the front of the assembly, put on a crazy hat and glasses, and then touched all the others on the shoulder as he ran across the room to make them dance to Pharrell. 

It was also fun to add teachers to the mix, as I was able to get Brianna to do a spoken word piece for the audience....of course, they were my words).

We also did numerous dialogue exercises and played with the novels and narratives we're all writing separately. Funny, Jack volunteered to share his novel and, via dialogue, he introduced the nemesis of his story....the invasive Captain Diaper, an adult diaper that needs to be changed.

Let's just say the conversation he had his superheroes having with the Captain Diaper villain was hilarious. We couldn't believe how brilliant and creative this young man is (his mom was right....put him in with the older kids. Writing is his life. All he does is read and write).

There is hope for the future, and I imagine my own adult diaper will be my nemesis, too.