Programme 383, Dave Rudden on Writing and Teaching Writing (11-12-19)

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney

On this week's podcast I am joined by author Dave Rudden who created the Knights of the Borrowed Dark trilogy. Dave talks about his own writing, about teaching writing to adults and children and he discusses the bullying that was a feature of his life in post-primary school. The specific topics discussed on the podcast are:

• How he began writing Knights of the Borrowed Dark as a college assignment
• The premise of the series
• Who the audience for the books is
• His experience in the classroom and what attracts him to writing
• His school visits
• His writing practice
• How he learned to write and what teachers can do to help children learn to write
• Getting into drama and theatre to overcome shyness
• Getting into live storytelling in Dublin and moving onto writing short stories and then to a Masters in Creative Writing
• Why Terry Pratchett is a role model
• He also likes Irish authors Sarah Maria Griffin, Deirdre Sullivan, Catherine Doyle.
• The benefits of doing a masters course in creative writing
• Why you don’t have to do a masters course to be a successful writer
• Differences in teaching writing to children and adults
• How teachers can teach children to write
• Explaining why words are weapons, writing is a muscle, and you don’t have to get it right first time
• The recipe for a character
• The recipe for a plot
• Stretch Goals
• What schools are for
• How teachers can support children who experience bullying
• A teacher who had a significant impact on him
• Who or what inspires him
• A favourite book or writer or blog about writing: Chuck Wendig, On Writing by Stephen King
• Neil Gaiman’s Commencement Speech: Make Good Art