AN EXERCISE IN NON-ACADEMIC WRITING

"Imagine Write Creatively", the initiative by The Daily Star (TDS) and United International University (UIU), inspires school students to cultivate their thoughts and imagination through the medium of creative writing. The second workshop on creative writing, as part of the programme, was held at London Grace International School, Dhaka on April 30.

The organisers set up camp at the premises of London Grace International School in Mohammadpur area of the capital, and proceedings kicked off from 10am. The objective of the workshop, as explained by one of the trainers, was to show the students how to imagine constructively, and how to get their creative juices flowing so that they could excel in writing. The workshop was conducted by a team of two trainers – Shiwa Forkan, an English teacher working with TDS, and Sharmin Sultana, Assistant Professor 
at UIU.

The workshop familiarised the students to the technicalities of writing fiction by breaking up a story into parts. They were shown how to analyse characters, create a setting, and create their own characters and finally piecing all of these elements together into a plot. All the exercises had the single agenda of teaching the students the basics of creative writing.

Photos: Darshan Chakma

Students from classes 4 to 8 were present at the workshop and their responsive participation was proof of how much they were learning. Syed Golam Morshed, a senior teacher at London Grace, encouraged everyone present to voice his/her opinion on what was going on. "I am thankful to The Daily Star and UIU for organising this workshop. From what I saw, it was inspiring for the students, and I hope this gives them encouragement to write more at a young age. Writing regularly at this age is important because it allows you to explore your potentials," he said. He later handed the organisers certificates of appreciation on behalf of the school. 

Photos: Darshan Chakma

When spoken to, the students expressed similar views of how they felt about this experience. Raisa Aziz, from eighth grade, believed the things she had learnt would help her in the future. "These are skills that can always come in handy for us, at school as well as other places, for writing essays and such," she said. 

Zaima Mahmud, a seventh grader, said that her favourite thing about the day was that they got to do things on their own. She said, "Going through the sessions was like learning innovation, which is something new to us. In some ways, these exercises can help open up our minds."

Photos: Darshan Chakma

Like most of his classmates, Tahmid Abrar Labib, a sixth grader, enjoyed the change from the mundane classroom routine. "Not memorising stuff for a change was nice, and it was more enjoyable than the way they teach us in class," he said.

Sumaiya Hussein, another student from the school, said, "Today's workshop sort of switched on my imagination. This was undoubtedly one of the best classes I've ever done."

Farzana Sultana Razia, Vice Principal of London Grace, felt appreciative of this venture. "This will help encourage the students to write more and think freely. The lack of restrictions is a luxury they don't have in school, so that's something new and different," she said. Seeing how the students took to the trainers' involving method, she said, "As teachers, maybe we have a thing or two to learn from this."

Sharmin Sultana and Shiwa Forkan – the trainers – were lively and engaging. The secret to their enthusiasm was explained when Forkan said, "We're not here to teach them how to write because they do that at school. What we're trying to do here is to trigger and help exercise their imagination –something they rarely get to do in their academic life."