Nurturing Young Writers Through Creative Writing and Peer Inspiration
How Kirsten and Aiyven Mbawa use storytelling, representation and peer inspiration to help children discover the joy of reading and the power of their own voice
At Happier Every Chapter, we believe that reading and writing for pleasure begin with possibility.
Before a child becomes a confident reader, they need to see reading as something that belongs to them. Before they become a confident writer, they need to believe that their ideas are worth putting onto a page.
Our Creating Worlds with Creative Writing Workshop, delivered by sisters Kirsten and Aiyven Mbawa, brings those two ideas together through an immersive author visit, creative writing workshop and reading-for-pleasure experience.
Kirsten and Aiyven understand the power of that message personally. They published their debut novels, Sagas of Anya and Land of the Nurogons, when they were just 12 and 10 years old. Since then, they have gone on to become authors, entrepreneurs, speakers and co-founders of Happier Every Chapter, while working with organisations including Disney and The Female Lead.
Their story gives pupils something particularly powerful: a relatable example of what is possible when a young person's imagination is taken seriously.
The Challenge
For many schools, encouraging children to read and write for pleasure can be challenging.
The curriculum understandably places significant emphasis on literacy attainment, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar and writing skills. But alongside these essential foundations sits another challenge: helping children develop a genuine connection with books, stories and their own creativity.
Some pupils are confident readers but reluctant writers. Others may have wonderful ideas but lack the confidence to express them. Some children simply have not yet discovered a story, genre or author that makes them want to keep turning the page.
Schools therefore need approaches that do more than teach children how to write.
They need experiences that help children understand why writing matters, make reading feel relevant and enjoyable, and give pupils the confidence to see themselves as capable readers, writers and storytellers.
The challenge is particularly significant for children who may not immediately see themselves represented in the world of publishing.
Happier Every Chapter wanted to create an experience that could bring literacy to life while giving children an authentic opportunity to meet published authors who had themselves started writing as children.
Our Approach
Kirsten and Aiyven developed Creating Worlds with Creative Writing as a hands-on experience that combines the inspiration of an author visit with practical creative writing and reading-for-pleasure activities.
The workshop is designed primarily for children aged 7–12, with bespoke sessions available for pupils aged 13+. It can be delivered face-to-face in schools and libraries or virtually, making it adaptable to different settings and school requirements. Sessions typically last between 1.5 and 2 hours.
At the heart of the programme is a simple idea: Children are more likely to imagine themselves as writers when they can see people who have already done it.
Rather than positioning authorship as something distant or inaccessible, Kirsten and Aiyven share their own journey and invite pupils into the creative process.
The workshop then moves from inspiration into action. Children do not simply listen to an author talk. They begin creating.
1. Meet the Authors
The experience begins with the story behind the stories. Kirsten and Aiyven share how they became published authors while they were still children, giving pupils an insight into what happens before a book reaches a shelf.
They talk about ideas, imagination, characters, storytelling and the realities of turning an idea into a finished piece of writing.
For children, this creates an immediate sense of relatability. They are not being told that young people can become authors in theory. They are meeting two young authors who actually did it.
That peer connection is a central part of the experience. Happier Every Chapter describes it as the positive side of peer pressure: the motivational effect that can come when children encounter people they can genuinely relate to.
2. Create Compelling Characters and Worlds
Once the children have been introduced to the authors' journey, they begin exploring the craft of storytelling themselves.
They learn how to develop characters with personality, motivations and purpose, while considering what makes a reader care about what happens to them.
They are also encouraged to think beyond the character and build a world around their story. What does it look like? What happens there? What makes it different? Who lives in it? What problems might exist within it?
These activities turn abstract writing concepts into something children can actively explore.
Instead of simply learning that stories need characters, settings and structure, pupils begin to experience how those elements work together to create a story that someone else will want to read.
3. Build Stories That Keep Readers Turning the Page
Story structure is another important part of the workshop.
Pupils are introduced to practical techniques for planning and sequencing a story, helping them understand how an idea can develop from a beginning into a meaningful narrative.
The workshop introduces children to tools such as the Story Mountain, giving them a practical framework they can continue using after the authors have left.
The emphasis is on making the writing process accessible. A child does not need to know everything about writing a novel before they begin. They simply need an idea, a way to organise it and the confidence to start.
The children are encouraged to experiment with language, structure and presentation while discovering that good writing is not about getting everything perfect on the first attempt. It is about having something to say and learning how to communicate it.
4. Reading as Fuel for Creativity
The workshop also deliberately connects writing with reading. Children are encouraged to read widely and often, both for pleasure and information, while discovering how reading can provide ideas, vocabulary, inspiration and different ways of seeing the world.
This is important because reading and writing are not separate journeys. Readers encounter characters, worlds, language and ideas. Writers draw on those experiences and transform them into something of their own.
By connecting the two, the workshop helps children understand that becoming a better writer can begin with becoming a more curious reader. Reading becomes less about completing a task and more about discovering what stories can make possible.
5. From Audience to Author
Perhaps the most important shift happens when pupils stop seeing themselves simply as members of an audience and begin to see themselves as creators.
They have an idea. They make decisions about their characters. They construct a world. They consider what happens next. They begin putting their own words on the page.
That movement from consumer to creator is central to the experience.
For some children, it may be the first time they have seriously considered themselves a writer. And once a child begins to think, I am a writer, the possibilities for what they might create begin to expand.
Bringing Learning to Life
The workshops are deliberately interactive.
Rather than delivering a conventional author talk, Kirsten and Aiyven combine storytelling, discussion, practical writing activities and audience participation.
The result is an experience that brings literacy out of the textbook and into the child's imagination. Children are given opportunities to ask questions, explore ideas, create characters and develop their own stories.
They are also given practical resources to take the experience beyond the session, including a free Story Mountain template pack and short stories written by Kirsten and Aiyven.
The aim is not simply to create an enjoyable school event. It is to create a moment that continues to influence what children do afterwards.
The Results
The workshops have been delivered across primary and secondary schools in the UK, including schools in Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Surrey and Bedfordshire, as well as through virtual sessions.
The experience has generated outcomes across several areas of literacy and personal development.
Greater confidence in creative writing
Pupils leave with practical techniques for developing characters, structuring stories and sequencing ideas, alongside greater encouragement to experiment with their own writing.
Stronger engagement with reading
The workshop deliberately positions reading as a source of pleasure, information and creative inspiration rather than simply a school requirement.
Increased creative confidence
By giving children the opportunity to create their own characters, worlds and stories, the experience encourages them to express their ideas and recognise themselves as capable creators.
A stronger sense of possibility
Meeting published authors who began their own writing journeys as children gives pupils a tangible example of what can happen when young people take their ideas seriously.
Evidence of impact beyond the workshop
The most powerful evidence is what happens next. Following one of the workshops, a Year 5 pupil was inspired to develop their own story. That story subsequently went on to be published in the Young Writers Annual Showcase 2022.
That outcome matters because it demonstrates the potential for a single intervention to become the beginning of a much longer creative journey.
What Schools Are Saying
The response from school leaders has reinforced the value of the peer-led approach. Julie Cassiano, Headteacher at Vernon Terrace Primary School, described the experience as:
“What a brilliant reading/writing for pleasure and self-education assembly conducted by two teenage published authors. Nothing like the impact when the message comes from teenagers.”
Her observation captures one of the distinctive features of the programme. The impact does not come solely from what Kirsten and Aiyven teach. It also comes from who they are and the journey they represent.
For a child sitting in the audience, the distance between themselves and a published author suddenly becomes much smaller.
The Bigger Literacy Opportunity
For Happier Every Chapter, this work is about more than creative writing.
It is about helping children develop a relationship with literacy that can stay with them long after the workshop has finished.
A child who discovers that they enjoy writing may begin to read differently. A child who discovers an author they connect with may begin looking for more books.
A child who learns how a story is constructed may start paying closer attention to the books they already read. And a child who sees someone relatable become a published author may begin to imagine possibilities for themselves that had previously felt out of reach.
That is why we see author visits, creative writing workshops and reading-for-pleasure activities as part of a wider literacy ecosystem.
The objective is not simply to deliver a workshop.
It is to create a spark that schools, teachers, families, libraries and children themselves can continue to build upon.
From Inspiration to Possibility
The most powerful question at the end of an author visit is not:
“Did the children enjoy it?”
It is:
“What might they do because of it?” Will they pick up a book? Will they start writing? Will they finish a story they had abandoned? Will they ask to visit the library? Will they begin to see themselves differently?
For one Year 5 pupil, the answer was to write a story that went on to publication. For other pupils, the impact may be quieter: a new book borrowed, a paragraph written, a hand raised in class, an idea finally shared.
Those moments matter. Because literacy is built not only through instruction, but through confidence, curiosity, practice and opportunity. And sometimes, all a child needs to begin is to meet someone who shows them that it is possible.
Every child has a story. Our job is to help them believe it is worth telling.
About the Workshop
Creating Worlds with Creative Writing is a high-energy author visit and creative writing experience for children aged 7–12, with bespoke sessions available for older pupils.
Delivered by published authors Kirsten and Aiyven Mbawa, the workshop combines author inspiration, creative writing, storytelling and reading for pleasure.
Sessions can be delivered in school, at libraries or virtually, and can be tailored to support wider school priorities around literacy, creativity, reading for pleasure and pupil confidence.
Happier Every Chapter
Helping every child discover the joy of reading, the power of their voice and the possibility of their story.