Sheena Wilkinson, award winning author of seven novels for children and young people, visited pupils at Strathearn. She talked about Star By Star, her most recent book, which was awarded the CBI Award for Fiction in Manning Hall earlier this month. Set in Ireland in 1918, it follows Stella as she navigates the world of ‘suffragettes and heroes… as war ends, flu sweeps the land – and women get to vote!’
Sheena gave a great talk about the process of writing, explaining her own background and the challenges that being a writer can bring. She emphasised hard work as central to success, and shared some places that have been inspirational to her in the past – including her local Library.
Sheena explained that when writing creatively, you need to think about character, setting, conflict, dialogue and where the story is going to go. She also emphasised the importance of editing, and explained after its first draft, a novel needs to be crafted over many weeks and months before it is ready to be published. Pupils asked Sheena questions about being a writer.
Thank you to Sheena for spending the morning with us at Strathearn, and sharing her inspiring words with pupils.
