Red Oak Young Writers, llc

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They’re not easy to gift wrap, but they will be treasured for years to come: those moments spent at Creative Writing Camp or in our Teen Writers’ Circles. Now, you can encourage the young writer in your life by giving a Red Oak Young Writers Gift Certificate in the denomination of your choice.

The good news: Lots of young people who like to write are finding Red Oak to be their “writing home!”

The less than good news: we’re receiving more requests than ever for scholarships/financial aid due to changes in families’ financial situations.

Some more good news: You can join others who have contributed to a fund* to defray the cost of Creative Writing Camp for those in need. If you’d like to do so, please click the link below to donate in any amount. THANKS!

*Because of our tax status, this is not a tax-deductible contribution.

Quite a number of our young writers are writing scripts, screenplays or graphic novels. Here’s a chance to connect with others who are taking the Script Frenzy challenge: 100 pages in 30 days. Check out the “Boot Camp” links to get your ideas corralled, so when the challenge begins, you’re ready to GO!

…into the mailboxes of our Creative Writing Camp participants.

For those who haven’t had the pleasure of reading our camp anthology, Oak Leaves, you can read some sample pieces on our “Featured Writers” pages (use the button above.) Kudos to our terrific young writers who contributed pieces to another great edition of Oak Leaves!

We rolled out the “Red Oak” carpet on Friday, Oct 8th to welcome Joan Boyce’s 34  writers (and a few of their parents) from Whitman Middle School in Wauwatosa. We started the day with two secrets: Mrs. Boyce is one of the very best Language Arts teachers in the whole world (True!) and Everyone wants to be a writer (Also, true — even if not everyone will admit it!) Everyone has a voice and a story to tell.

This marvelous group of writers dove right into every writing exercise — from playing with haikubes to using their sense of smell to drop into a memoir piece. Who knew the smell of popcorn — or cotton candy or campfire smoke or A-1 sauce — could be so powerful for conjuring up memories? What a beautiful day for writing with this fabulous group of young people! Many thanks to all those who made their visit possible.

It’s the highlight of summer: young people who like to write come together for a week of sparking their creativity, playing at the page and sharing their work, all under the dedicated mentorship of some of our fine RedBird-RedOak Writers (Robert Vaughan, Pam Parker, Kris Jaeger, Susa Silvermarie, Laurel Poston, Alison Polivka and Kim Suhr).

As you might expect, the kids had a thing or two to teach us:

~Taking writing risks yields great writing rewards
~Ideas can come from some pretty unlikely places (a crazy hat, a marshmallow, a barred owl feather)
~When we step out of our comfort zone, we find all kinds of fun writing surprises
~The thought of sharing writing with peers is more scary than actually doing it (and once you’ve done it, it becomes addictive)
~Writing is more fun when it’s done with others

Many thanks to our 79 campers for their enthusiastic participation and to their writing coaches who gave them a week to remember.

What do spies, fairies and chicken farmers have in common? They all made an appearance at our end-of-week Writers’ Showcase to celebrate our young writers’ work from Creative Writing Camp. What a marvelous week of creativity, hard work and fun!

After a week of receiving feedback on their writing, our camp participants shared their reactions to a week of  Creative Writing Camp at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Milwaukee:

Within a day at Red Oak, I had already developed friendships with people who share my love of writing! ~Maeve, age 11

I love the camp! The coaches were creative, helpful and funny! Exercises were interesting, while sacred writing time was inspirational. ~Sabrina, age 9

I wish it was way longer! My fave part was sacred writing time! It was a great experience! ~Emma, age 9.5

You really have a lot of great ideas for writing that will help me a lot in the future. I’d definitely try to come again! ~Margot, age 10

This was my 3rd year of learning writing and loving it! ~Grace, age 11

Writers’ Camp has given me a whole new way to look at things when I write! ~Danielle, age 12

It was so nice walking in every day to see your friends. You walk out each day with memories and opportunities. ~Natalie, age 10

This camp not only helps you get better at writing, it lets you have fun while doing it! ~Annie, age 10

Here’s a link to the full article about our Creative Writing Camp which will be held at Ten Chimneys Estate, July 26-30. Many thanks to freelance writer, Denice Ryan Martin and to our young writers who agreed to be interviewed and quoted in the article! (And, of course, to MetroParent West!)