What you get
Your child will experience significantly enhanced communication abilities and newfound confidence when participating in group conversations.
✔️ Mentorship by Award-Winning HarperCollins Author Garima: Your child will receive exclusive guidance from the talented Garima, an accomplished author with a flair for storytelling
✔️ Inclusions: Editing, book layout, book cover design, publishing and listing are all included in your one-time payment
✔️ A complementary copy of Author Garima’s latest children’s book # JTAG Journey to Ancient Gems (you buy, we pay)
✔️ A complementary physical copy of the book created during the workshop will be shipped to you. Buy extra copies at author discount
✔️ Certificate of Writing Camp participation & becoming a Published Author from The Happiness Institute, Pune
✔️ Listing of book on Amazon for friends & family to buy
Author Anisha
Author Arnav
Author Arnav Gandhi
Author Ayush
Author Kaavya
Author Neel
Author Pari
Author Parnika
Author Sufee
Author Vayam
storytellers are now published authors through this camp
Why a Story?
What happens when a child weaves a tall tale? Their right-brain creates juices to keep them focussed. The right brain is the storehouse of multiple talents, problem solving, lateral thinking, spatial learning, even humour! Schools focus heavily on developing the analytic left-brain but the power of the right brain is untapped. When a child weaves a story, they develop strong communication, critical thinking, and creativity. They connect emotionally to the characters. Books take us away from this world into many fantastical ones where we are sometimes the hero, other times the jester! For children, stories provide an opportunity to explore their imaginations and develop empathy for characters. Stories become even more transforming when our child writes them. Writing stories encourages empathy and emotional intelligence, essential qualities for success and leadership. Facing challenges in the writing process, overcoming writer's block or running out of inspiration teaches resilience so they don’t give up. Moreover, in an AI-driven world, only the storytellers can hold our attention and lead people, whether during presentations or strategy meetings. Overall, story writing prepares children to navigate the complexities of the future with self-confidence.
Testimonial
Author Sasha
Author Krishang
Author Nathan
The Camp
This is not just a writing camp but the beginning of a transformative journey. In this one-of-a-kind experience, your child will be taken from being a chatty storyteller to a published author! Today, anyone can ChatGPT a story using basic prompts. So this camp is not just about spinning a yarn with idioms, evocative adjectives, and apt verbs.
Program One:
Storyteller to Published Author (SPA)
For first time participants, this is the program.
Suggested age-group: Grade VI- XII
- Phase 1: Two weeks group mentoring
Children will let their guards down, break mental barriers and let their imagination fly high. We will use many crazy games to connect with their inner genius. The children will then learn about a hook, using embodied words, integrating all five senses, building tension in the plot, adding a twist, the role of Hero or Guru, and how to end well. Introduction to navarasas, monomyth template, giving characters unique voices, maintaining pace are included. These prized skills will take their storytelling from good to awesome! All 10 classes compulsory. - Phase 2: Third & fourth week for one-on-one discussion of story
Each child will get a session with mentor Garima to sort out any issue they are having while writing their story. One session, based on mutual convenience. - Phase 3: Time to write
Children will be given a deadline to finish the story. Usually four days after the personal session. They will have constant whatsapp support till they finish. Completing the 1500 word story before the deadline is compulsory. - Phase 4: Editing skills
Once all stories are finished, each child will become an “editor advisor” for another one’s story. This will give them the higher order skill of analysing someone’s writing and sharing feedback in a positive and respectful way. One to two hour commitment only. - Phase 5: Book Launch!
Will try on a best-effort basis to have a physical book launch in Pune. We know how much it means to our children to see a celebration of their hard work.
The Storyteller To Published Author team weaves the final magic. We edit the stories to polish them up, layout, design the covers, proof, proof, proof till it is error-free and, voila! We have an enviable anthology of short stories by young authors.
Book will include a photograph and short author profile of each child, alongside the story.
Entry test is compulsory. Child will be given a prompt and must submit a short piece within 3 days.
Start date: May 13th 2024, Monday, 5-7pm, Online
Fees: All this at the highly discounted rate of Rs. 20000 12000 only, all inclusive, from writing to publishing.
Gallery
Author Rishan holding trophy and certificate at book launc
Young Author Aarayna
Guest Author & Motivational Speaker Riddhaan Jain at book launc
Authors Krishang & Tejraj
Author Pari with mentor Garima and Chief Guests at book launc
Author Sara with Chief Guest
Book Cover of Previous Junior Batch,
publishing this month
Testimonial
- Lipika Ghosh, Grandma of Aarayna (7 yo), “God bless you, for guiding all kids through this beautiful journey of creativity. It helped them to write their stories without any kind of pressure. ❤️🤗”
- Dr. Sapna, Mother of Diya (8 yo), “Hello all, I am feeling very happy to share my experience about Storyteller to Published Author writing camp. A very creative and innovative idea by the Happiness Coach, Author Garima. During camp kids were guided, how to select the genre of story and to weave it further all by themselves. Stories getting published is a great confidence booster for young minds. All in all a great experience and would like to thank Garima for conducting this camp.”
- Prachi, Mother of Varya (8 yo), “Garima's Creative Writing and Storytelling Workshop has been an incredible learning experience for my 8-year-old daughter, and I couldn't be happier.Garima's approach is incredible. She's patient, nurturing, and really knows how to spark creativity in kids. My daughter has learned so much about the key elements in story writing and thinking outside the box—it's been amazing to watch her grow. But what's truly special is the community Garima creates.My daughter met like-minded kids who share her passion for storytelling across India. And seeing all their stories come to life is really inspiring! And the best part? Their stories get published in a book! It's been a confidence boost for my daughter, and as a parent, I couldn't be prouder. I wholeheartedly recommend Garima's workshop to any parent seeking to nurture their child's creative spark.”
Program Three:
Advanced Published Author (APA)
For authors who have previously attended Program One, SPA.
This program is not open to first time storytellers.
Suggested age-group: Grade VII- XII
Hey there, published author! Glad to have you back in camp. Here’s what we will do this time-
Phase 1: One week mentoring, includes
- Learn advanced storytelling skills
- Learn long-form writing, including nonfiction and fiction
- Balance descriptive writing with action to maintain pace
- Creating depth in the cast of characters
- Focus on character arc
- Back stories and their appropriate use
- Honing dialogue writing
- Incorporating universal symbols or layered meaning in the theme
- Play with a team of heroes, beyond the MonoMyth
- Write up to 5000 word story in any genre
Program Four:
Personal Mentoring
This program is for a child or adult who is writing a full-length novel and wants mentoring support throughout the process. This is appropriate for a person at any writing stage, whether they have started writing or are still thinking about what to write. The child will control and guide the session, expressing their need. Mentor Garima will handhold and support but never become an overbearing influence.
Child will be responsible for the speed of writing, how many sessions are taken and how often.
*This is support for the writing journey. No editing or publishing service is done in this.
Suggested frequency is once per week.
Fees: Rs. 1500 per one hour, or Rs. 750 for half hour
Testimonial
- Prachi Jajodia, Mother of Aarvi (12 yo), “My daughter has been taking regular sessions with Ms. Garima and I can see the improvement in her writing. She has helped her incorporate different ideas and adapt the story for her audience. It’s been a very pleasant mentorship experience.”
Garima is a highly awarded author and parenting coach. Follow her on Amazon
Her book The Body Nirvana: More than just a weight loss book won the 2019 International Book Award in Health: Diet & Exercise category.
Her most recent book is an action adventure story for tweens to 14 year olds, #JTAG Journey to Ancient Gems
Garima Gupta is a psychologist educated in the US and India. She is a Happiness Coach, Parenting guide, and Founder of The Happiness Institute, Pune. She is Chairperson for ALL Ladies League Pune Parenting Chapter. Garima conducts workshops for psychology students and lay persons. Her popular student program is Wired for Success which trains them for growth mindset, resilience and responsibility. Garima received straight A’s and a GPA of 4.0/ 4.0 in the Advanced Course in Rehabilitation from UMDNJ, USA. She was the University rank holder in both Masters and Bachelors degrees in Psychology from SPPU.
