Creative Writing Workshop. Pope Library, North Conway

Tools of Storytelling: Finding Voice, Hook & Heart

Stories are how we make sense of the world and how we share our wisdom. We all have stories to tell. 

Creative Writing Workshop: Tools of Storytelling is designed to help you find and trust your authentic voice. Through thoughtful, engaging exercises, we’ll explore what makes a scene come alive, how to hook a reader from the very first line, and how to write with rhythm, precision, and soul.

Come as you are—curious, rusty, or inspired—and let us craft stories that come alive. 

Syllabus

1. Writer, Know Thyself

We begin by discovering how you naturally write when no one’s looking. A quick writing warm-up will reveal your tone, pace, topic preference, and voice. Are you a free-flow thinker or more of an editor? Do you write from memory, observation, or imagination? No right or wrong—just awareness.

2. Hook the Reader: The Power of a First Line

We’ll look at what makes a great opening line—the kind that sparks curiosity and draws a reader in. We'll also explore how beginnings and endings anchor strong storytelling, from the sentence level to full scenes.

3. Bring Your Scenes to Life: Show, Don’t Tell

We’ll explore how to write immersive scenes using sensory detail and emotional cues. Instead of telling the reader what happened, we’ll practice showing it through images, gesture, and voice.

4. Point of View: Whose Eyes Are We Looking Through?

We’ll examine how perspective shapes storytelling. Are we inside the character’s mind (first person)? Watching from a distance (third person)? Or floating above the story entirely (omniscient)?

5. Think Like a Director: Writing as Cinematic Storytelling

Stories are movies in the reader's mind. We'll borrow tools from filmmaking—camera angles, zooming in and out, freeze frames—to shape vivid narrative moments on the page.

6. (optional - if time allows) Editing: Sculpting the Clay—The Art of Revision

Writing is rewriting. Once your raw material is down, we’ll work with it like clay—shaping, refining, and clarifying without losing the energy of your original voice.

With Love, Melissa.
If you need more details ... feel free to email me at Melissawyld@gmail.com