Welcome to WORDVOODOO

As you have seen in our recent English lessons, I am particularly passionate about using language in imaginative ways – harnessing the true power of words to take your reader deep into a world of your creation, with all the emotional immersion that will involve. Or, in other words, using language to cast a spell: wordvoodoo.

This is the principle behind the wordvoodoo blog. It is a place where all of you can try out your ‘spells’ for the rest of you to read and assess. Each week, I will set you a new task, and you will be expected to produce a piece of writing in response (maximum 400 words, but can be much shorter). The emphasis should be on experimentation – with language, genre, form… everything, really! Try out new ways of using language, pursuing your wordvoodoo in new directions all the time.

However, don’t be fooled into thinking that I am looking for complexity. Good writing does NOT necessarily use polysyllabic, obscure vocabulary, any more than it uses long, convoluted sentences. It can be sparse, simple, succinct. What distinguishes it is that it will be both DELIBERATE (i.e. everything is done for a reason) and ORIGINAL (i.e. you are not, even subconsciously, copying ideas from elsewhere). Allow clichés or clumsiness to stray into your creative cauldron, and wordvoodoo just won’t occur.

I am working hard to enlist some professional writers to join the blog themselves every now and then, and hope to manage that by September. But it will be increasingly likely the more quality work you all post there in the meantime. So get conjuring straight away. And, just as importantly, get commenting on what others have written. Don’t be cruel, but feel free to offer a critique – on what works well and what could have been different. After all, this is how you will all improve.

This blog is now open. Register now, get started today, and let the magic begin…