Sydney Davis reports that her first week attending the Writopia Advanced Writing Seminar has been “an adventure.”
“Everyone, from students to instructors, is extremely supportive. The environment of this program truly feels like a community of writers who are here to lift each other and share their love of writing. I’ve had many excellent opportunities at this program ranging from workshopping with writers of all genres and talking to professional working writers and editors,” Sydney says.
Sydney’s days are structured around workshops and electives, with morning meetings to discuss daily schedules, followed by intensive afternoon work.
“These morning workshops consist of writing games and exercises over skills such as world-building. We also get time to sit and write during the workshop and then share at the end of each day’s session. After lunch, we have genre intensives. There are six options, and in the first three days, we alternated two different ones every day to sample all of the possibilities. Such choices include workshops on conversations between media, film/music criticism, photojournalism, interview journalism, moments in poetry, and conflict in plays,” Sydney reports.
“After we took one session of each elective, we decided which two electives we wanted to stick with for the rest of the two weeks. I decided on film/music criticism and conversations between media. In the conversations between media, I’m brainstorming and starting a piece that is in conversation or loosely inspired by Medea, the Greek play. For film and music criticism, I’m beginning to write a review for a music album,” Sydney explains.
Sydney and her class of 26 students have also had opportunities to meet professionals from the writing community.
“On Thursday, an editor of an imprint of Penguin Random House called Labyrinth Road came to talk to us about what her job as an editor looked like. She explained the business and creative aspects of the profession and included information about how book banning impacted the industry’s creative and business side. On Saturday, we had the opportunity to attend a masterclass about publishing and children’s literature which ranges from picture books to YA literature. The masterclass was led by my morning workshop instructor, who has a career in ghostwriting for children’s book series such as The Hardy Boys. In the masterclass, which about ten students attended, we had conversations about what the publishing industry is like from the writer’s side and the process for writers to become published. On Sunday, we’re scheduled to have a professional comedy writer for the Tonight Show present to us about comedy writing,” Sydney reports.
When not in class, Sydney and classmates have been exploring New York City. They walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry, and attended a performance of Malvolio, a play inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
“My experience at Writopia Advanced Writing Seminar and in New York City has been extremely beneficial, and I look forward to learning more about the city and writing next week,” Sydney adds.
Week Two
“Sydney reports that her second week at “Writopia” was “just as amazing as the first.”
“I continued my electives in film/music criticism and conversations between media. In the conversations between media, I started a short story inspired by Medea. While I did not finish it during my time at the program, I would like to keep it in mind for other story ideas. In film and music criticism, I completed a music video review and a film review. I enjoyed both electives and look forward to continuing those types of writing and adding them to my portfolio,” Sydney says.
Students were introduced to professional writers with different writing styles, including a comedic writer for The Tonight Show. When not in class, Sydney and classmates ventured out to explore more of NYC, participated in an open mic night, and sampled the famous New York bagel.
“We explored further into New York City as well. We walked to a park in Manhattan called Little Island that had a view of the city’s skyline. The island park itself was man-made. The architecture and views were all amazing. On another day, we went to the Nuyorican Poet Café, where our program had an open mic night. I read a poem I’d written last year about Southern Illinois. For our last night exploring New York City, we traveled to Coney Island, where we had the famous Nathan’s hotdogs and walked the boardwalk. Coney Island was by far my favorite location in New York City. It seemed connected to the rest but also separate from everything. On our final night at the program, we stayed in the dorm and had another open mic night that was open to all forms of media we created or worked on while at the program. I read a short story I edited at the program called Glass Eyes,” Sydney says.
“Writopia Advanced Writing Seminar has given me experiences I never imagined. I explored New York City, pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and met talented fellow youth writers from all over the United States. I will miss New York. I’m beyond grateful to the Garwin Family Foundation for allowing me to attend this program,” Sydney adds.
We are so happy to hear that you had an enriching experience at Writopia, and wish you much success in your literary career. Good job, Sydney!
>> Read Sydney Davis’ final report (PDF file, 82KB).
>> Learn about other students’ experiences in the GFF Scholarship Program.
