Head Start Boost: 8-week Course on Writing for Children
For anyone who's dreamed of writing a children's book, either for their own family or with a view to publication, get a head start in 2026 with a writing course from Cumbrian children's author, Helen Haraldsen, aka The Writer in Wellies.
Whether you already know what you'd want to write about or not, Helen will help you turn a blank page into a chapter book or novel. Perhaps you've got a story you've started and got stuck with? Let Helen help you get back on track.
This course would make the perfect gift for the budding writer in your life or a treat for yourself.
Course Breakdown
Know Your Character. We'll work on creating a main character you want to write about.
Your Story Core. We'll work out a story outline, based around the character created in the first session. In addition to planning what the story is about, we'll also refine the core message and themes.
Plan Your Narrative. In this session we'll take the basic story plan and use a variety of techniques to develop the outline into a more detailed narrative plan to help with the writing process.
Viewpoint & Voice: Before we start writing, we'll look at options regarding narration style, person and tense to discover the best way to tell our stories.
Narrative Hooks. We'll look at techniques writers use to ensure readers are engaged from the very first page, and experiment with different ways to get our stories off to the best start.
Show, Don't Tell. This session will look at the skills of breadcrumbing, using description and avoiding the dreaded info-dump!
Stories will be underway by this point so these sessions will allow for individual writing time, paired / group discussion, critique and feedback, tips from Helen on how to edit effectively and one-to-one meetings with Helen to discuss and evaluate your story.
Note: This course is designed for people who want to write chapter books, middle grade, or teen novels. The course does not cover writing picture books or illustration.
- Tuesday 20th January 18:00
- Tuesday 27th January 18:00
- Tuesday 3rd February 18:00
- Tuesday 10th February 18:00
- Tuesday 17th February 18:00
- Tuesday 24th February 18:00
- Tuesday 3rd March 18:00
- Tuesday 10th March 18:00
- Length
- 2.5 hours per week
- Prices
- £224
- Age Guidance
- 18+
- Notes
Children aged 8+ may attend with an adult also taking the course. Contact us for details and pricing.
Helen Haraldsen is a children's author. She has also been an English teacher and school librarian. Her mission in life is to inspire young people to love reading and writing so that they have the literacy skills they need to access life's opportunities: being Lit Fit for Life! She loves writing books for and with young people, and introducing children to the book that turns them into a reader is one of the highlights of her job.
When she's not reading, writing or teaching, she'll be busy at home in Cumbria looking after a variety of horses, dogs, ducks and geese! She’s a life-long animal lover and often uses her own pets as characters in her books.
You can find out more about Helen on her website.
