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Sabaa Tahir Speaks with Creative Writing 12

In Creative Writing 12, students were given the opportunity to interview (by Zoom) a New York Times best-selling author about her craft. Sabaa Tahir has been a professional author since 2015. She began as a journalist with the Washington Post, and that, she said, is where she discovered her love of creative writing. Warm and authentic, Sabaa talked honestly with the class about her victories and struggles. After an introduction, she answered their questions, allowing students to ask even the most awkward questions about how writers make a living.
Fiona Z. asked, “Do you think it’s a natural talent to create fantastic stories, or do you think it is a skill that can be practiced and learned?”

Tahir answered: “The key to distinguishing excellent writers from okay writers is honestly hours spent writing and reading. The more you read, the more you experience and understand the language you are writing in. Spend time with a language, almost the way you would spend time with a person. Get to know a language the same way you would get to know a person. Understand the rhythms of a language the way you would understand the rhythms of a person. Writing can absolutely be learned; it’s about being open to craft and open to critique.”

She explained techniques for combating Writer’s Block (name lovingly changed to Writer’s Pause). She described her patience with her characters and with her process. She shared that her definition of success is blazing a trail for other fantasy writers about heroes of colour and inspiring young adults who finally “saw themselves” in her novels.

Near the end of class, she took time with each student to ask about current projects and offered advice and resources. And finally, she provided guidance that none will easily forget. She said, “One thing that kills creativity is other people telling you what you can and can’t do. Do not let people do that. Whatever you feel most powerfully, whatever you feel drawn to, do that thing. Somebody somewhere in the world needs that thing, and they need your story, and they need it told in only the way that you can tell it. So tell it, no matter what it is.”

Sabaa Tahir’s books have sold more than a million copies worldwide, and she has been honoured by TIME Magazine on a list of the 100 best fantasy books of all time.

— Kim Edgson, English Teacher

Shawnigan Lake School is adhering to all COVID-19 guidelines released by the BC Ministries of Health and Education, including those regarding learning cohorts, physical distancing and mask-wearing when appropriate.
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