For ages 10+
Each week, students will learn style and technique from a favorite, kid-friendly author. Then our young writers will put their own unique, creative twist on that masterful writing. We choose new works to study and emulate each semester, so fresh skills and styles are absorbed.
This consistent process demystifies creative writing, and sets a strong foundation for all writing.
1:00-2:00 PST
14 Tuesdays beginning 1/27
Scroll down to read the Details and enroll.
Your class has been the highlight of [my daughter's] school year. Her confidence and ability in writing has grown tremendously, thanks to your guidance . . . she told me she thinks she's found her calling in being a writer!
Every time we meet, we’ll read a new section of a story. We’ll break each paragraph down and discuss every significant word, phrase, and sentence to understand why it's important, in terms of plot, characterization, and writing skill. But our main goal is to zoom in on, and recreate, the author's style, applying his or her techniques. Our conversations will cover all sorts of writing craft and language arts points:
tone
mood
vocabulary definitions
nuances of meaning
sentence construction and variation
specific word choices
stage-setting / suspense-building
grammar rules / conscious rule-breaking
and no doubt more—it all depends on the excerpt!
Exploring an excerpt to this depth is actually fun. It’s an expedition inside a writer’s mind, a process full of “aha!” moments. And the treasures to be found include style, substance, and the ability to self-express.
Then we’ll brainstorm some twists and inversions of that section and practice creative revision and editing skills. Each student will rewrite his/her own unique version of the day's section. Every student’s content will be creative and original, but s/he’ll emulate the style, syntax, mood, and tone of the original. It always astounds us how much the students' "covers" sound like the original work, and yet come off as very much their own.
Those who want to share out loud will have the chance to do so each week. It’s so inspiring to hear how someone else re-visioned a famous author’s work! And we're all about positive reinforcement, from peers as well.
There won’t be any homework if they finish in class, just enthusiastic encouragement to continue this practice on their own, even if they just rework a single eye-catching sentence. So don’t worry about this class being “too much” on top of other writing classes your child might be taking.
Below are two wonderful examples based on Chapter 20 of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine (his original text is in the center). Each emulation reinvents the master's work in uniquely wonderful ways; one very closely, and the other very differently, yet both are aligned with Bradbury's syntax, mood, and theme. And these are just two of many fine emulations! Every student ended up with a complete short story that would've made Ray Bradbury proud.
Emulation #1,
by Louie, age 10
The very first light on the morning lawn; really early in the morning. The roses on the bushes trembled with the soft awakening that a morning wind can give. And then on the lake, far off, around a group of reeds, comes the ferry boat, with both red smokestacks blowing out smoke. It was the color of peaches. Plates of silver steel covered it, with splashes of bronze, and its big gold bell pinged if the young ferryman tapped it with his leather boot. The name on the ferry boat’s front and sides said: ‘Helen.’ Inside, its chair prickled with white feathers. Something like a spinning wheel in the back of the boat pushed the boat along like a loving mother. From all of the opened window in town blew the scent of spring flowers and gardens.
Down the long sunny docks, the boats moved along, the ferryman’s bare hand touched very gently, softly on the steering wheel.
Dandelion Wine, Ch. 20
by Ray Bradbury
The first light on the roof outside; very early morning. The leaves on all the trees tremble with a soft awakening to any breeze the dawn may offer. And then, far off, around a curve of silver track, comes the trolley, balanced on four small steel-blue wheels, and it is painted the color of tangerines. Epaulets of shimmery brass cover it, and pipings of gold; and its chrome bell bings if the ancient motorman taps it with a wrinkled shoe. The numerals on the trolley’s front and sides are bright as lemons. Within, its seats prickle with cool green moss. Something like a buggy whip flings up from its roof to brush the spider thread high in the passing trees from which it takes its juice. From every window blows an incense, the all-pervasive blue and secret smell of summer storms and lightning.
Down the long elm-shadowed streets the trolley moves along, the motorman’s gray-gloved hand touched gently, timelessly, to the levered controls.
Emulation #2
by Vanaja, age 10
The morning dew glistens on the basil growing in the herb garden; Grandpa and Grandma are up and about. The apple blossoms quiver at the gentle spring breeze, a quiet whisper. And in the fields, in swaying rows, the corn and tomatoes and pumpkins display their vivid rainbow, as if the clouds had painted them. Splashes of lime green speckle the swelling pumpkins, and sun-yellow tomatoes dot their plants. The juicy cobs of corn have yet to emerge from their husks. The hand-painted signs in the fields are covered with overgrowth but the words are clear as ever: “Tomatoes”, “Corn”, and “Pumpkins” printed in their respective colors. Grandpa’s rusty red wheelbarrow, filled with rainwater, sits in the shade of the farmhouse, and Grandma’s lilacs bloom on the beautiful wooden bench by the shed. From the rows of vegetables blows a fragrance, that spirited, young green and that sweet scent of dewy grass and harvest.
Out the farmhouse door comes Grandma, carrying a watering can, and Grandpa follows, with a bag of radish seeds – the day has begun.
for Creative Writing Practice - Spring 2026
Dates: Tuesdays, Jan 27 - May 5 (no class Mar 31)
Hours: 1:00 - 2:00pm PST
Location: Online, via Zoom.
Ages: Recommended for ages 10-14.
Cost: Each 14-week course is $425. At checkout you'll see an option to pay in installments.
Tutoring: If you're interested in signing up your student for tutoring in writing, please contact the instructor, Lisa Craddock.
Charter parents: If you're using Ocean Grove, South Sutter, or Sky Mountain funds, enter code CHARTER at checkout to enroll without prepaying, then request a PO.
Cancellation Policy: Cancel anytime before the first day of class for a full refund. 50% refund once class starts, if requested before the second class; there are no refunds after that.
Instructor: Lisa Craddock holds BAs in Literature and Theatre, and a Master of Humanities in Film Studies with a concentration in Rhetoric (the art of speaking and writing effectively). She has taught classes in literature, composition, and film for the University of Colorado, and her scholarship, essays, poetry, and plays have appeared in a variety of literary and academic venues. We’re proud to have her on our team!
IMPORTANT: After checkout, go to your dashboard to complete the registration form, which is
required to confirm enrollment.
If you're an Ocean Grove, South Sutter, or Sky Mountain parent, apply code CHARTER to enroll without prepaying.