Author Dan Freedman visits Year 10 English

Our year 10 English learners had the privilege of welcoming Dan Freedman, an author with an exciting pathway to success, for a masterclass about his journey, the publishing industry and creative writing.  

During the session, Dan spoke about his past as an aspiring footballer. Although he didn’t become a professional footballer, he was able to use his experience playing academy football to write a successful fiction series about a footballer named Jamie Johnson. Thanks to his experiences and dedication to storytelling, Dan published eight books with Scholastic and had a TV show produced and aired based on his stories. 

The main part of the session consisted of a Q&A where learners showed great interest and articulated some great questions. One stand out question was asked by learner Orges, who asked Dan if he ever felt discouraged during the writing and finding agent process. Dan shared that his journey was not one of instant success. He shared his turbulent journey of facing rejection from publishing companies and even nearly giving up. Through this insight learners could step into the story behind the storyteller, gaining insight into the difficulties Dan had to overcome for his writing to reach the world. This perspective not only motivated our learners but prepared them for the difficulties one might face when pursuing their aspirations. 

Learners also enjoyed other discussions such screenplay writing in comparison to writing fiction and the challenges you may face when telling a story through these different mediums – learners even discussed the future of the literature industry in this increasingly digital age. 

Thanks to Dan for truly inspiring our learners! It is an immense benefit for our learners to be exposed to such a successful author and hear insights about his industry and the way he has navigated through it to reach success.  

“It was such a pleasure to spend time at your school. It was very impactful to see how engaged and enthusiastic the students were throughout the session. The fact that so many students wanted to ask questions was fantastic!” Dan Freedman.  

Next Back