Teen Writers Workshop

The Teen Writers Workshop is a two-week summer afternoon program that helps writers ages 14-19 develop and explore their creative writing talents and skills. Often, students who have aged out of the Young Writers Workshop find a new group of like-minded friends and creative soul mates in this sister program. See below for the easy two-step process to apply to this on-campus program.

Questions? Email Director Dr. William K. Lawrence at wklawren@ncsu.edu.

Sponsorship

The Teen Writers Workshop, which grew out of the popular Young Writers Workshop, was begun by writer/professor Daun Daemon in 2007. TWW is a nonprofit program sponsored by the NC State College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of English.

Eligibility

Rising 9th-12th graders and recent graduates who will enter college in Fall 2024 are eligible to apply with a writing sample.

NC State University provides equal opportunity in all education programs/activities and prohibits discrimination and harassment. For more information on NC State’s Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy, please visit policies.ncsu.edu

Step 1: Application

2025 applications open on March 1. Please check back in the spring. Acceptance is selective based on writing sample and interest. Note that there is no automatic confirmation. You will be notified of your status within 30 days.

Step 2: Pay Tuition

Note that your teen writer has not reserved a place until you have received an acceptance email and paid the tuition. Cost of tuition depends on when you pay (see levels below). NO payments can be accepted after July 5. 

Tuition Levels

Early Bird registration March 15-March 30 $299

Regular registration April 1 – June 15  $365 

Late registration June 16 – July 5   $399  [requested workshops not guaranteed]

Please REPLY “public service employee” on the acceptance email and attach documentation if you wish to receive a 10% public service discount. 

Remember, you must apply and pay by the end of the tuition level expiration. Applications submitted in the last few days of the cycle are not guaranteed to be reviewed in time.  

Students cannot be admitted until payment has cleared.

Refunds are available, minus $30 for handling, and only through May 31. After 5/31, refunds will be granted only if a replacement applicant is available, minus $30 for handling. No refunds can be granted after June 10. Returned checks will result in a $30 administrative fee.

Tuition includes the workshop, a t-shirt, a printed anthology, and the final celebration.

Financial Assistance

The Teen Writers Workshop will consider requests for financial assistance based on demonstrated need and student motivation. Limited financial assistance is available. **The deadline for financial assistance for the 2025 workshop is June 1.** Please send this request form. Scholarship recipients will be notified in June.

Faculty

We are writers who are teachers and teachers who are writers. Our workshop faculty are comprised of working artists who are experienced and professional teachers at the secondary and college level.

Courses

Course offerings will be in poetry, creative nonfiction, dramatic writing, screenwriting, fiction, genre fiction, and Introduction to creative writing. Each student will select their top course preferences. Students will be placed in at least one of their preferred classes. Workshop placement is assigned on day one. 

Poetry is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a “composition in verse or some other patterned arrangement of language in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.” Students will learn and experiment with a variety of poetic forms and techniques in this class. Instructor:

Creative Nonfiction– This course focuses on writing about real events in a creative way. Writers will use the narrative and dramatic elements of novels, plays, and poetry. The tools and techniques for writing fiction and creative nonfiction are very similar. Students in this class will be writing true stories in an artful way, such as in nature writing, travel writing, memoirs, and food writing, for instance. They will not be writing formal academic essays, reports, research or term papers. Instructor:

Dramatic Writing – This workshop will focus on playwriting for the stage, as well as scripts. In this class, students will learn some of the basic techniques of writing plays, such as setting a scene, creating characters, constructing a plot, and moving a plot forward through dialogue to apply these techniques to their own one-act plays. Instructor: Rebecca Bossen

Screenwriting-  This special topics workshop will focus on screenwriting for films and TV. In this class, students will learn some of the basic techniques of writing scripts. For grades 10-12. Instructor: Tommy Jenkins 

Special Topic- This special topics course will focus on the art and science of dialogue writing. The crafting of dialogue in fiction, scripts, or comics will be examined and created. For grades 9 through 11.  Instructor:

Fiction, for our purposes, is “the species of literature which is concerned with the narration of imaginary events and the portraiture of imaginary characters” (Oxford English Dictionary definition). Students in this class will learn about some of the basic techniques of fiction writing, such as developing characters, writing dialogue, managing point of view, and constructing plot and narrative — and they will then apply these techniques to their own short stories or novel chapters. Instructor: 

Genre Fiction is a specialized fiction workshop that will explore a variety of literary genres, such as sci-fi, fantasy, gothic horror, magical realism, adventure, romance and mystery. Students will learn the basics of world building, extended metaphor, plot structures, suspense, persona, and how to use different genres as vehicles to talk about complicated topics. Instructor:  

Introduction to Creative Writing- This exploratory workshop will focus on the creation of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Various skills applicable to all genres will be explored. Instructor: Patrick Reilly

Method and Structure

The Teen Writers Workshop offers craft lectures and genre specific small-group workshop environments for students interested in developing their creative writing skills. Over the course of the two-week workshop period, experienced, working writers of fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction encourage participants to explore their own creative writing abilities. Student-to-teacher ratio is low — usually between 9-12 students and no more than 14 students per class — so that participants can receive the benefit of the instructor’s expertise and individual attention.

Our students are not graded but are encouraged, nurtured, and invited to explore their own styles of writing in our workshops and beyond. During the two-week program, they read from their own writings, work in small groups and workshops, and receive one-on-one craft-based instruction in plot, character, action, conflict, and more. Guest writers and artists also read their work in special craft talks and answer questions about their process. 

TWW students are grouped mostly by interests and age (older students with older students, younger students with their age group, as well). Students will be enrolled in two classes. Classes are 60 minutes long with a 60 minute craft talk by a guest writer or faculty member and a 20 minute (bring-your-own) snack break in between.  

Publication and Celebration

On the final day of the workshop, we celebrate the students’ work with a reading and reception including food. Participants may choose to read their work. At the end of the program, participants receive one printed anthology. Awards will be given for cover art.  

NC State does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information, in its programs and activities.