Oisin McGann

Today we had a workshop with a writer called Oisin McGann. It lasted for 2 classes so we missed Spanish, I was so sad because I had done more homework than anyone else :( It was more of a talk than a workshop but it was good anyway. My class was first (because we are simply the best) and we all had to go to the library after registration. We all sat in a circle so that Oisin could all see us. He seemed really nice. He introduced himself to us and started talking to us about writing and about how writers come up with their ideas. He said that writers write down all of their ideas in a notebook and that they will always have one at hand. After he told about when a person is writing a story that they stop and that it can be hard when they are trying to think about how the story goes. He told us us that he looks at something ordinary and turns it into something magical. He gave us an example by looking at a shoe, and it was my shoe. (scarlet) :P He started to make up a story of a shoe that they had teeth and it hides in your cupboard until night and then it crawls up the stairs. It crawls into your room and under your covers and then it bits your foot and sucks all the blood out. It was a weird story but I enjoyed it. It was good to see that a writer could make up a story like that on the spot in front of like 20 of us. He also got really into the story by being very enthusiastic and shouting a lot :D After that he started talking to us about how we use language and they way that we speak. He started talking to us about the time he went to different countries. He said that he didn't have a strong Irish accent and that people can tell that you're Irish by the things that we say. He said that we would say things that people from a different country might not understand like; "If you give it some wellie, you'll be sucking diesel" I would never say that but people wouldn't understand it if you said it. Coming near to the end he then started drawing. He drew us a picture and even signed it for us. It was a really good workshop and he was really funny too. I would really like it if another writer came to us and talked to us.

Look at his website: http://www.oisinmcgann.com/blog/

Class Amina and Oisin McGann and the picture he drew us. :)