The Creative Writing and Forensics Workshop
The Creative Writing and Forensics Workshop meets once a week after school for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students. Creative Writing was added to the traditional Forensics program based on moderator Richard Leonard’s recognition of the growing number of OMC students with advanced skill in short story and poetry writing. By expanding the focus to encompass Creative Writing, our program gives aspiring authors the chance to explore their individual styles beyond the classroom’s focus on language mechanics. We examine short story and novel writing methods, drawing from Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style to settle questions of technique, and Karen Wiesner’s First Draft in 30 Days and From First Draft to Finished Novel to examine the structure of the novel.
The Forensics component of the program addresses the development of speech and debating skills that will enable students to become better oral communicators, in keeping with Speaking-Listening proficiency on the revised report card. In addition to debate, forensics topics also include writing and presentation of short monologues; recitation of dialogue in pairs; improvisation; and the physical and vocal aspects of speech delivery laid out in Brent Oberg’s Forensics: The Winner’s Guide to Speech Contests.