Write What You Know,
But Leave Out the Dull Stuff
A workshop series for young writers who want to turn ordinary life experiences into extraordinary works of fiction.
Led by Erik E. Esckilsen, author of The Outside Groove, Offsides, and The Last Mall Rat, all published by Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books.
“Write what you know.” It’s an age-old piece of advice that young writers often hear when they express interest in getting their story ideas down on paper. When author Erik Esckilsen first heard the words as a teenager, he was puzzled. What do I know about anything? he asked himself.
But he began writing anyway, drawing on his real-life experiences selling shoes at the local mall, some quirky people whose paths he’d crossed, and life in Vermont. He focused on aspects of his life where there seemed to be drama: the ups and downs of working in retail, people who got in his way or helped him out, and ways that his hometown nurtured or stifled his dreams. When he put it all together, the result was The Last Mall Rat, his debut novel. It’s a book for young readers who can relate to what he was going through when he first heard those fateful words: “Write what you know.”
Writing from the Inside Out
In this workshop series, Erik inspires teen writers to draw on personal experiences, people they’ve encountered, and familiar places to craft compelling works of fiction. Writers of all styles and genres — fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, realistic fiction — develop strategies for exploring themes, characters, and settings in their own lives that will make writing their fictional stories as intriguing as reading them.
The workshop series includes four workshops, each of which presents a variety of exercises. Erik will present individual workshops for groups that wish to focus more attention on individual elements of the writing process:
Writing with Personal Purpose – Bring out the stories you most want, and are most uniquely able, to tell.
Writing about People – Take a closer look at people you’ve met, exploring attributes and attitudes that distinguish them as you create memorable characters.
Writing about Place – Explore your community, looking at how a place can take on its own character and help or hinder us in getting what we want out of life.
Let Art Imitate Life… – Now turn “what you know” into an equally deep knowledge of imaginary people, places, and the compelling situations that will bring them to vivid literary life.
For Teachers and Librarians
Erik E. Esckilsen is available for writing workshops, author talks, and readings. His workshop series “Write What You Know, But Leave Out the Dull Stuff” takes a process-oriented approach to writing. The workshop’s emphasis on pre-writing and self-reflection encourages young writers to incorporate this proven strategy into their writing routine. The workshop also recognizes the innate dignity of young writers’ lives by valuing their ideas, their experiences, their impressions, and the challenges they face. The heightened sense of engagement with the world that this workshop inspires can play a vital role in a young person’s education, fostering awareness on the path of lifelong learning.
About Erik E. Esckilsen
Author Erik E. Esckilsen has presented creative-writing workshops for young writers on campuses and at conferences nationwide. Currently a college writing teacher in his native Vermont, he has also written plays for the New York City stage and worked extensively as a journalist, publishing science articles for young readers in Nova Magazine and articles on the arts in the Boston Globe and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications.
Recent Workshop Appearences:
- American School in Japan, Tokyo
- Barnes & Noble, Pacific Place, Seattle, Washington
- Barnes & Noble, South Burlington, Vermont
- Champlain College, Burlington, Vermont
- Colchester High School, Vermont
- Edmunds Middle School, Burlington, Vermont
- Essex Rotary Club, Essex, Vermont
- Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, Vermont
- Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Bellevue, Washington
- Gailer School, Middlebury, Vermont
- J. W. Leary Junior High School, Massena, New York
- League of Vermont Writers, Burlington, Vermont
- Mater Christi School, Burlington, Vermont
- Mt. Greylock Regional School, Williamstown, Massachusetts
- Potsdam State College, New York
- Rock Point School, Burlington, Vermont
- Salisbury Summer School of Reading & English, Salisbury, Connecticut
- Water Street Books, Williamstown, Massachusetts
- West Seattle High School, Seattle, Washington
- Williston Central School, Vermont
- Winter Wheat Festival of Writing, Bowling Green State University, Ohio
- Young Vermont Writers Conference (for secondary level students), Champlain College, Burlington, Vermont