Bill teaches and presents his work to children, teens, and adults. Here are a list of his current presentations. He does prepare unique presentations, as well, even at a moment’s notice, so if these don’t scratch the itch, drop him a line.
P.S. Blog materials connect to many of the presentation topics. Feel free to use them in your classroom!
What are storybooks made of, made of? Stories come to visit us all. Where do stories come from? Have stories visited you? What’s a book? Can we make our own books from the stories that visit us?
Put a person in a pickle! (Grades 6 to 9, 60 minutes). What’s a story? A story is just a person in a pickle. We’ll pick a person. We’ll pick a pickle. We’ll put the person in the pickle and see if we can find a story we want to write!
Cook up a story! (Grades 6 to 9, 60 minutes or 90 minutes with exercises). Ever wondered how to cook a delicious story? We’ll use a story recipe. Add one hero. Stew over high heat. Add a medium-sized villain. Throw in a HUGE onion. Add a dash of this and that to suit your own tastes. We’ll whip up a spicy story in no time at all.
Are you a writer? (Grades 6 to 12, 60 minutes). You might not realise that you’re a writer. We explore a few classic signs that you may be a writer, and a few more non-standard ones that might suggest the same thing.
You should write a book! (Grades 10 to 12, 60 minutes). Ever wonder what it takes to be a writer and write a book? Do you need to have good marks in English? What about a big vocabulary? Bill reveals what he believes are the best ways to tell if you’re a writer, and best ways to write a book.
What makes you want to write ( Grades 6 to 9 60 minutes, or 90 minutes with exercises). Ever wondered what motivates you to write? We’ll explore different kinds of inspiration and find one that works for you. We’ll use that inspiration to begin writing a story! We’ll find inspiration to write a solid scene, one that might thrill your friends.
Duck Boy – The Journey (grade 4 to 12, 45 minutes). This is the story of a 16-year process from when the story was initially written, to its publication. It’s the story of perseverance, and how to engage the writing process.
Moon Canoe – The Journey (K to grade 3, 45 minutes). This presentation explores where stories come from and how books are made. The main point is this: anyone can write a story and make a picture book.
How to outline your story (Grades 9-12: 1 to 1.5 hours). How do you start writing a novel? How do you figure out “what happens next”? This session focuses on popular novel writing approaches with exercises from each major approach and examples taken from Bill’s experience. Teachers may want to see Bill’s amazing plot guide.
How to write an amazing scene (Grades 6-12: 1 hour). Have you ever wondered how to write a scene that will grab your readers? How do you get into it? What can you do to ‘live’ the scene and make it easier to write and wonderful to read?
I’ve got a novel, now what? (Grades 9 – adult: 1 hour). You have something you want to publish. What are your options? How does each option work? What are the pros and cons of each?
Let’s write a story! (Grades 7 — 9: 1 hour). Stories can be written lots of different ways. Bill discusses two different ways to write a story and shows how it can be easy to write a story with some good inspiration. Bill discusses the seeds of his stories throughout the presentation.
I want to be a writer, what can I do? (Grades 9 – adult: 1 hour). This session explores options to help a person on the road to becoming a writer. What kind of route might one plan in order to become a published author?
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