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Draft and revise a story in this three-week creative writing course for elementary and middle school students on Cornell University’s campus.
Course Description
A character, a problem, a detail that makes a scene feel real: a short story can grow from a small idea.
In this course your student will read short fiction and discuss podcasts to find techniques worth trying. Character, plot, setting, dialogue, point of view, voice, conflict, and metaphor all shape what a reader experiences.
Their own flash-fiction story of about 1,000 words develops through drafting and revision. They’ll try an outline, sharpen dialogue, use active verbs, and cut words that slow a scene. A one-minute pitch helps clarify the idea; humor, simile, and metaphor offer other ways to tell it.
Individual notes on a first draft guide the next changes. Students prepare their finished story to read and discuss with the class and learn where writers can submit work. There’s time to try an idea, change it, and find a voice that feels their own.
This three-week Summer Discovery course for elementary and middle school students takes place on Cornell University’s campus in Ithaca, New York. Beyond class, students connect academic exploration with campus life, new friendships, growing independence, and curiosity they can keep exploring.
What Will You Do?
• Read short fiction to find techniques worth trying
• Develop a character, setting, conflict, and narrative voice
• Experiment with dialogue, imagery, humor, simile, and metaphor
• Pitch your story idea in about one minute
• Draft and revise roughly 1,000 words of flash fiction
• Share your finished story for class discussion
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Use fiction techniques to develop an original story
• Revise writing for stronger verbs, clearer dialogue, and purposeful detail
• Explain how writing choices shape a reader’s experience
You’ll leave with your revised flash-fiction story.
Why Creative Writing Skills Matter
Writing a short story asks students to decide what a reader needs to see, hear, and understand. A line of dialogue can reveal a character; a precise detail can change the mood of a scene. Reading other writers’ work gives students techniques to test in their own drafts.
Revision turns those choices into something they can examine. Cutting an unnecessary phrase or changing a passive verb helps them judge whether the words serve the story. Sharing work and responding to feedback develop attention to another person’s experience, useful habits for reading, writing, discussion, and creative collaboration.
Who Should Attend?
For students who have completed 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th grade.
If you invent characters, collect interesting words, or wonder what might happen next in a story, this course gives you time to try those ideas. You’ll read short fiction, write regularly, share work, and revise after feedback. Students should be willing to experiment with a draft and listen to another reader’s response. You don’t need a finished story to arrive with. Bring a notebook, pen, and laptop or tablet so you can develop and edit your work.
Creative Writing in Action
A short-story writer can change a reader’s experience through a character’s choices, a scene’s details, or the person telling the story. Similar decisions appear in a screenplay, a comic, a game, and other forms of storytelling. Dialogue, conflict, and point of view help each form direct attention and create meaning.
The course introduces those tools through fiction and a revised flash-fiction story. Students might keep writing short pieces, study how a favorite author builds a scene, or experiment with a different narrative voice. They also learn about places writers can submit work, giving their questions a possible next direction.
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive