Summer Program
Summer is already happening, but just because we're in quarantine doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy it! The Young Writers Initiative wanted to create an immersive virtual camp for young writers that is free of cost. All you need is the internet and a passion for writing.
- FREE Eight Week Long Virtual Writing Summer Camp
- Mandatory Weekly Workshops
- Writing feedback
- Writing excercises and challenges
What Is Included?
Weekly workshops with successful writers and industry professionals. Some of our workshops include interviews with renowned publishing professionals like Suzie Townsend, VP of New Leaf Literary and an accomplished literary agent representing Victoria Aveyard and more, Anna Bernard, Senior Publicist at HarperCollins. We also will have Anika Nayak, a successful freelancer, our own mentors like Madison Siwak, and so many more.
Along with these workshops, we will also have monthly writing themes, challenges, and exercises. We’re going to not only build your skill through feedback, but also your endurance as a writer so you can take it to the next level.
Along with these workshops, we will also have monthly writing themes, challenges, and exercises. We’re going to not only build your skill through feedback, but also your endurance as a writer so you can take it to the next level.
Why You Should Participate
- Feedback from your peers and TYWI board members
- Develop a consistent writing routine
- Have a collection of work to submit
- Get a great group of writers and friends.
- Get access to exclusive workshops by industry professionals + writers
- Get access to resources like a hub of contests to submit to, deadlines, spreadsheets, documents, writing advice and more.
Sneak Peak: July and August Challenges
JULY
AUGUST
- July Theme for novelists: Camp Nano
- July Theme for poets: write a poem a day
- July theme for freelancers/bloggers: write two articles/blog posts a week
AUGUST
- August Theme: Revise and edit your Camp Nano project
- August theme for poets: revise and compile your poetry collection
- August theme for freelancers/bloggers: revise your collection of essays/stories + submit to four journals/contests (including TYWI’s)
Eligibility
- Must be under 23 years old
- Need to either attend workshops or watch them after hand and complete an assignment.
- Can be in any stage of writing
Application!
The application will ask basic information like your name, email, and some other details about your availabilty.
APPLY BY CLICKING THE BUTTON BELOW!
APPLY BY CLICKING THE BUTTON BELOW!
What is the time commitment?
This is not a typical summer camp where you spend the whole day doing the work. The only mandatory events that we have are our 1 hour long workshops, which are once a week. Of course, we hope you take full advantage of this opportunity and invest more time in the challenges, networking with other writers, giving and getting feedback, and interacting with the summer camp.
What if the time zones or times don't work for me?
That's okay! We are aware of this, so we will record every workshop and post it so you can rewatch it/watch it. If you weren't at the workshop, we'll give you a week to watch it and complete a short assignment on it.
What are some fun parts of this program?
There are a lot!
- We have weekly challenges and daily writing exercises! The weekly challenges will be things like submit to a contest or develop a writing schedule! They won't be difficult, and they aren't mandatory.
- Everything is on the Slack, so you'll have a vibrant and fun community where you interact with fellow summer campers! You'll make friends, get feedback on your work, and build a great community of fellow writers.
- The workshops are really cool. For example, renowned lit agents like Suzie Townsend and Senior Publicist at HarperCollins will be having interviews for their workshops where you can ask them anything. They're not about actual writing such as character development (those are our IG Live workshops). These are about taking your writing to the next level.
- We'll be doing Camp Nano challenges for our novelists, daily poetry themes for our poets, twice a week blog posts/articles for our bloggers and freelancers for June! In August, you'll work on editing and revising your pieces. By the end, you'll have a collection of work or even a full blown novel!
Do I have to be from the US?
Nope! This is an international summer camp :)
What happens if I get too busy/fall behind on things?
We're very understanding, but we also want to ensure maximum participation in our workshops because these are awesome workshoppers and they deserve people to be there and learn. I mean, that's the whole summer camp experience!
If you miss two workshops without a reason and don't make them up (if you're international, we take this into consideration, so don't worry), we'll have to re-evaluate whether this program is for you.
If you miss two workshops without a reason and don't make them up (if you're international, we take this into consideration, so don't worry), we'll have to re-evaluate whether this program is for you.
