When you see a beautiful building, do you ever stop to take a close look at the individual materials with which it was constructed? In this workshop for children's writers at all career stages, we'll do just that. We'll focus on the building blocks—words—that writers use to tell stories, construct worlds, and evoke emotions. We'll take a brief look at the history that has given English-language writers such a head-scratchingly odd but beautiful set of words to work with, and then we'll discuss how writers can use various qualities of those words to tap into their own creativity and connect with readers. Have a pen and paper handy: you'll have a chance to see where some words take you during the workshop. 

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In this workshop, we will:

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• Discover what makes English such a rich language, full of quirks and beauties that writers can harness.

• Consider the effect that individual words have on readers/listeners: the way they sound, the way they look on the page, the memories they evoke.

• Explore the adage "The sum is greater than its parts" by briefly reviewing techniques for combining words to magnify their effect (e.g., assonance, repetition, rhyme).

• Explore how a single word or pair of words can generate ideas for writing.