Hello and thanks for stopping by. I’m so glad you’ve found my writing club.

I’m Nikki and I started Storymakers in 2017, just after the publication of my first book, The Mystery of the Disappearing Underpants.

 

At that time, I had been freelance writing and copywriting for over ten years whilst working on my fiction. It had always been my aim to offer something for children – something that would give them the opportunity to write freely and without judgement.

Storymakers began with a few workshops and grew into a fully-fledged club with weekly groups for different aged children as well as holiday workshops and one-to-ones.

Since March 2020 I have been online, but that has only been a positive thing as far as I’ve been concerned. Online learning is extremely flexible and not only that, it doesn’t matter where in the world you are, and I have worked with children all over the UK, Europe and even as far as Singapore!

Here is a rundown of what I offer at the Storymakers Club:

The Wednesday Writing Club – this is an hour full of writing prompts to stimulate creativity and get the imagination in gear. It may be a picture of a setting that you will be asked to describe, or imagine what is happening there. It may be a picture of a character that you will be asked to imagine what they are doing, who they are etc. It may be two characters that you will be asked to write a conversation between. This club involves short exercises of 5-10 minutes, so it is fast-paced and fun. Anyone is welcome at this group, from 7 up to 16 years.

The Story Writers – this is the first of my Saturday groups and aimed at younger children, from 7-9 years. It is a structured class taking you through the process of story-writing, from outlining plots, to developing characters, writing dialogue, story openings etc. It helps improve vocabulary and understanding, as well as stimulating ideas.

The Writer Buds – for 8-10-year-olds the Writer Buds offers a mix of fiction and non-fiction writing. In this group, we might do a news report or an advert, an instructional piece, a factual report or letter, for example. This wider range of writing helps build skills that will act as the foundation for moving on to secondary level.

The Young Writers – for 11-year-olds and up to aged 16, the Young Writers is a more in-depth writing group. Though structured, the Young Writers has a relaxed, supportive feel and we cover aspects of writing such as creating atmosphere, developing characters that are three dimensional and practising writing techniques to add depth to your fiction. We also continue with the support for other, non-fiction writing such as persuasive arguments, accounts and explanations.

For those who prefer a more tailored approach to their learning, I offer 1:1 sessions of 1 hour or 45 minutes. For my 1:1 students, I have worked on specifics such as spelling, essay writing, the mechanics of story writing or comprehension, to give you a few examples. It is really up to you what we work on.

My holiday workshops have been wide and varied. Some have been similar to the Wednesday Writing Club, others have covered vocabulary, spelling and grammar. The workshops are wide-ranging and hopefully as fun and informal as we can make them!

It is my love of writing and storytelling that I bring to my sessions. I hope that by working with an author, the children are inspired to become writers too. Being a writer does not necessarily mean you have to become an author. We all need to be writers in some capacity – it is a form of expression that cannot be underestimated in its importance and extends to all subjects and most areas of life.

I hope you are able to take a look around my website. You can find details of my groups on the ‘What’s On’ dropdown menu – ‘Saturday Groups’ for Story Writers, Writer Buds and Young Writers and ‘After School Clubs’ for the Wednesday Writing Club.

See the ‘Virtual 1:1’ page for booking individual lessons.