Nette Hilton
Nette's background in teaching and a million other jobs have left her well equipped with story ideas. She lives in northern New South Wales with too many animals, including a turkey who likes to sit on her back fence and make like a budgie!
Nette's best known books are The Web and Proper Little Lady, both of which were shortlisted and winners in The Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Awards. She has several new books due during 2006.
Using her teaching background, Nette can develop plans with all grades which then enhance the students' appreciation and understanding of narrative.
She has visited a great many schools and inspired many children to write - including two past winners of the Nestle competition.
Level 4 - 5 – (Years 7 – 9) "Remember The Audience" – 45–60 minutes.
In many instances new writers experience difficulty working on narrative as they adopt the mode of reader or viewer when telling their story. In this workshop students will:
- use a map to draft a narrative without moving from their role as writer
- trouble shoot their text prior to undertaking their full written narrative
- identify the need for reviewing the whole. (Genre, viewpoint are discussed here)
- editing sheets – how to develop your own.
As a consequence of this experience, writers are better able to work as readers as they will be able to see beyond the text to the author's intention.
Time is allowed at the beginning of the workshop for a brief author introduction and at the end for questions.
Reference during these sessions will be made to my own work – "Living Next To Lulah", "Sprite Downberry" and other young adult fiction.
Level 4 – 5 (Years 7 – 9) "Being Centre Stage – You Just Can't Help It." – 45–60 minutes
1 Hour Workshop suitable for Years 7 – 9
Character development is the key to good story telling. Characters control plot and without a good understanding of the characters at the centre of your story it becomes difficult to keep the narrative on track. In this workshop students will:
- consider themselves and their motivations.
- develop simple characters and write up their wish list
- place their characters in conflict situations
- develop a list of verbs that describe their character's movements.
- explore the concept of 'show' not 'tell'.
Time is allowed at the beginning of the workshop for a brief author introduction and at the end for questions. Reference during these sessions will be made to my own work – "Living Next To Lulah", "Sprite Downberry" and other young adult fiction.
Level 4 – 5 (Years 7 – 10) "Viewing The Book." – 45–60 minutes
This workshop is based in some of the requirements for script writing. An understanding of how a narrative works in film is an excellent strategy that can be used by prose writers for analyzing plot, structure and pacing in their own work. During this workshop students will experience:
- back story and its place in a narrative (both film and book)
- structure – a more demanding structure is required when producing a film script
- Show not tell
- Linear narrative and how to keep a story moving forward
- Heightened visual awareness (the silence of gesture – how to capture it on film and how to translate it into words).
Script writing as an excellent tool for informing writers about their own work.
Time is allowed at the beginning of the workshop for a brief author introduction and at the end for questions. Reference during these sessions will be made to my own work – "Living Next To Lulah", "Sprite Downberry" and other young adult fiction.
Level 4 – 5 (Years 7 – 10) "The Partnership of Picture Books." – 45–60 minutes
Picture books are as elusive to complete as poetry. They have their own parameters and editorial requirements but, with a little bit of luck and a good 'ear' texts can be produced and developed reasonably quickly. This is an excellent opportunity for students to:
- experience the nature of picture book making by working alone
- experience the nature of picture book making by working in pairs
- experience the nature of picture book making by working from text first
- experience the nature of picture book making by working from illustrations first
- look at story boards
- explore I.T. as a medium for picture book production.
Time is allowed at the beginning of the workshop for a brief author introduction and at the end for questions. Reference will be made to many picture books, including my own.
Young Adult Workshops and Author Visits
Any workshop that is listed here can be reviewed and reworked to suit your year level and their needs. There is always the opportunity to work with teachers to develop a unit that will suit the needs of their students and their school.
Feedback
"Nette is a hit! She is just lovely and so easy to work with. The classroom teacher she was with yesterday has nothing but praise for Nette and said she was hanging on every word!" (Michelle Witheyman-Crump of West Moreton Anglican College)
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