Bestselling author, Jacqueline Harvey spoke to avid student writers at our Lishman Library in Term 1. Students learnt the ins and outs of adventure and mystery writing from Ms Harvey as she took them on a journey through her experience, to the remote Dusky Sound in the South Island of New Zealand.

“I learnt how to build up a mystery without making it boring and obvious,” said Year 7 student, Anna.

Classmate, Zac agreed with her saying, “I learnt that it is actually a lot of fun to write about something that happened in real life, and make it a lot more entertaining and interesting, based on simple events such as waking up or eating breakfast.”

Ms Harvey wants students to understand that anyone can write an interesting mystery and enjoys watching students coming up with their own ideas.

“I love it when they ask me questions and are showing interest in writing and reading. It is just great to see them engaged in the story, because often students come to the session, and they have this barrier that they think writing is hard or is not something that they can do or takes too long. So being able to watch them light up and think that they can do it, is very special,” said Ms Harvey.