My little writers

I'm pumped right now because the circus kids' club I signed my kids up for has already invited my kids to a free playwriting workshop this coming week! Which will give me an hour or more of babysitting, while getting my kids involved with two of my all-time favorite things, theatre & writing. I'm not sure what playwriting has to do with the circus, except that there's a former ringmaster associated with a theatre here that has a big playwriting program. So they're running a workshop for the kids. I am so glad we got involved with this club! They will also get to learn some magic & juggling later this year, which will be wonderful for my older son, to help replace in some small way the magic camp he had to leave behind in Austin.

But I'd better watch out so they both don't end up surpassing me in writing! My 7-year-old was actually published at the age of 3, with a story called "I Want to Buy Groceries" in the Austin SCBWI newsletter. And today, for the fables unit at his school, he's taking in a spiral-bound fable he wrote & illustrated at his old school. That's one of several stories he's already written & illustrated. And he doesn't even want to be a writer, he wants to be a scientist & inventor. He'll probably be one of those people who can do everything, like invent a transporter (his goal in life) while also writing a few sci-fi movies on the side. My 5-year-old, on the other hand, is in arts preschool now & seems like he might be a born performer. But he's already written a story or two himself, not to be outdone by his brother, so he may well end up writing, too, or at least doing a lot of improvisation! I am itching to get back into theatre myself, but all the theatres here seem to be professional rather than amateur, and I'm certainly not ready for prime-time. Maybe I'll take a class next time I can find one...or maybe find a church with a drama group.

I also have an idea for a children's play, and I'm thinking that might be the best thing for me to work on right now. I can't wrap my head around my novels right now, but a silly play could be a fun change of pace, and who knows, my kids might even be able to give me some pointers after their playwriting class!