GACW Fall 2025 - Day 2: The same world looks different through every voice.
Welcome: “Tell Me Something Good”
Warm-Up Game: Pass the Story in Disguise
Start with a blank sheet of paper.
Write one simple opening sentence for a story. Examples:
“I found a key under my bed.”
“The bus didn’t stop today.”
“The cat kept staring at the wall.”
Pass your paper to the person on your right.
Rewrite the sentence in a different voice. Ideas for voices:
A dramatic villain
A little kid
A sports announcer
A robot
A pet
A poet
A text message style
Keep passing and rewriting until the page has been transformed several times.
Main Writing Challenge
Think of one ordinary event (waiting in line, getting caught in the rain, forgetting homework, losing a shoe).
Choose one of these challenges:
Write the scene twice: once in first person, once in third person.
OR: Write the same event from two different characters’ perspectives.
Quiet writing time & Sharing.
Inspiration Quotes
Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give):
“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”Jason Reynolds (Look Both Ways):
“You really don’t know somebody until you know what they walk to.”Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson):
“If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.”
Short Text Excerpts
1. Jason Reynolds – Ghost
"Check this out. This dude named Andrew Dahl holds the world record for blowing up the most balloons… with his nose. Yeah. That’s true. I’m not lying. The kid blew up one hundred and nineteen balloons in three minutes. I saw it on TV. For real. Andrew Dahl is a genius. And I’m Andrew Dahl’s number one fan."
2. Gary Paulsen – Hatchet
"He pulled himself up and tried to stand but it was too much. He would have to take it slowly. He turned his head, saw the lake, blue and green and deep, and knew he would have to get water soon. His lips were cracked and his throat screamed with thirst."
3. Jacqueline Woodson – Brown Girl Dreaming
"I am born in Ohio but the stories of South Carolina already run like rivers through my veins. My grandmother tells them to me at night, whispers the memories into my dreams."
4. Terry Pratchett – The Wee Free Men
"Another world, Tiffany thought. And she could see it. And she was in it. It was as though she’d stepped out of herself, leaving behind the Tiffany that was made up of chores and cheese and paddocks and the everyday world. This Tiffany was the one who watched the world and wondered what was really going on."
