Create the Scene: From Sound to Story
How can a sound become a place? How can music reveal a character, spark a conflict, or shape an entire scene? In this interactive workshop for writers ages 13–18, writer-producer Laurie Woodward will be joined by musician and filmmaker María Belén Luzuriaga Abad to lead students through the essentials of storytelling using music, live sound, and guided prompts to ignite their imaginations. Laurie will guide the students as they explore the building blocks of storytelling, including character, conflict, and setting. María Belén will bring instruments into the workshop, helping students listen closely and use all five senses to create memorable, emotionally rich settings. Under their guidance, participants will transform what they hear into vivid narrative scenes filled with mood, character, conflict, and cinematic detail. Time permitting, the workshop may also incorporate musical looping into students’ readings, giving them a chance to experience how sound and story can work together in performance.
Friday, Sept. 25 from 3:00-5:45 p.m. – Exclusive Teen Program – Join educator, writer-producer Laurie Woodward and artist, musician, and filmmaker María
Belén Luzuriaga Abad for an interactive and fun workshop. Pizza and snacks included!
**Stick around for the Friday Night Keynote with Jonathan Maberry from 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 26 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. - Teen Writers are invited to join the rest of the conference attendees for a full
day of sessions. Choose from 40 professional writing workshops. Includes lunch!
Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors,
San Luis Obispo County teens ages 13-18,
currently enrolled in middle school or high school
(in person, home school, or distance learning) pay just $75!
*Scholarships available: please email CCWC Event Director Meagan Friberg
at meagan_friberg@cuesta.edu or call 805-610-4252 for more information.
| Meet the Instructors | |
|---|---|
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Laurie Woodward |
Laurie Woodward is a multi-award-winning author, screenwriter, and emerging producer whose work explores creativity, resilience, and transformation. Her published works include Time Murmurations, Finding Joy, The Artania Chronicles series, and Forest Secrets, along with numerous short stories and poems. Her screenplays have been optioned for development, and she is currently producing the neo-noir sci-fi short film Celestial Pirouette. Laurie’s work has received recognition from the Writers of the Future Contest, appeared in A Hudson View Poetry Digest, and reached the screen through projects including the anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. She also co-wrote the memoir Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy, featured in the IMAX film Dolphins, Robin Williams’ In the Wild, and Animal Planet. A former bilingual teacher and peace consultant, Laurie continues to encourage others to use imagination as a catalyst for hope, connection, and change. |
|
María Belén Luzuriaga Abad |
María Belén Luzuriaga Abad is a musician, visual artist, and photographer whose work moves between sound, image, and lived experience. Often working in black and white photography, her visual practice explores raw and luminous states of being, capturing moments that move between intimacy and expansiveness, forming landscapes of the mind. Her photography has been featured in .RAW Cal Poly Magazine and Cholla Needles, and exhibited at Harold J. Miossi art gallery, Corazón Café, and a DTLA anniversary showcase. María Belén also performs in various music projects, using sound as an extension of storytelling. She is currently working on a documentary project based in her country of origin, Ecuador, exploring migration, culture, and survival, including a journey through the jungle that nearly cost her life. She is an instructor with Cuesta Community Programs, SLO County libraries, and a juvenile center where teaching music and the creative practice continue to inform one another. |
