My First Writing Camp: What to Expect as a Young Writer (and as a Parent)

Are you a young writer interested in attending a writing camp? While I was in middle school, writing camps were one of the main ways I fostered and grew my personal writing community—they can be a fantastic tool to grow as a writer and to meet new friends! However, going away to camp, especially for the first time, can feel daunting. We’re here to give you a few tips and tricks to make your first writing camp the best experience possible!

When I was fourteen, I was delighted to be selected for a spot at the Alpha Young Writers Workshop, which is dedicated to serving teens writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror. (You can find more information about Alpha here: https://alphawritersworkshop.org/.) As a budding genre fiction writer, the chance to attend Alpha was a dream come true! Alpha, like all writing camps and workshops, offered the opportunity to meet fellow young writers and to learn from experienced writers who are excited to support others’ creative journeys. The lessons I learned both through the classes Alpha hosted and through simply chatting with the friends I made there were fundamental to my understanding of myself as a writer.

However, getting myself to that point was hard. I was extremely shy in middle school, and the thought of leaving my family to immerse myself in a brand-new situation with tons of unfamiliar people felt like the type of horror story I wasn’t even interested in writing! It takes bravery to try new things and meet new people, which brings us to my first tip for young writers: it’s okay to be scared, the trick is to do what you love anyway. I was beyond nervous saying goodbye to my family and signing myself into camp—but that moment of pushing through my fears brought me joy that I benefit from to this day.

Another form of bravery is speaking up and sharing your work! When you’re at a writing camp, you’ll be surrounded by people who want to help you become the best writer you can be. Sometimes the people teaching you will be idols of yours, the authors of books you’ve loved! During my two years at Alpha, I had the joy of being taught by Tamora Pierce, N. K. Jemisin, Daniel Jose Older, and Mary Robinette Kowal, who were all writers I admired immensely. This made speaking to them difficult at first. Which leads me to my second tip for young writers: everyone you learn from deserves your respect, be they peers, teachers, or writers you’ve been reading for years. Part of respect, and part of learning, is letting yourself ask questions! You’ll get so much more out of your writing camp experience if you ask questions about what you’re interested in or confused by—and those teaching you will be delighted that you’re engaged in what you’re learning!

Regardless of if you are attending a sleepaway or a day writing camp, there will be moments in time where you and your fellow writers aren’t working. This is a perfect time to hang out with like-minded writers! Nobody can write all day non-stop, and you might be surprised to find that some of the most valuable lessons you learn at camp come from these moments of rest and conversation. Connecting with other young writers at camp can help you learn about stories you never would have fathomed, get to know potential new friends, and even begin building a writing group that can keep working together after camp is over! The friends I met at Alpha, the ones I initially had to force myself to chat because I was so shy, ended up becoming the foundation of an online writing group that continued for years to come. Their encouragement helped me develop into the writer I am today! This is my third and perhaps most important tip for young writers: who you meet, get to know, and connect with is often more crucial than what exactly you write at camp. Don’t worry about writing the next great global novel during a small sliver of the summer! When you have free time at camp, chatting with your fellow campers is a true gift. You can always go back and revise what you’ve written at camp, but it is much harder to connect with people after camp if you haven’t taken the time to get to know them.

Attending Alpha was one of the turning points in my development as a young writer—and it was a boatload of fun, too! My confidence as a writer, student, and friend all grew immensely. If you’re considering a writing camp, or if you’re already set to attend one, think about how these tips might work for you. What would doing what you love, asking questions, and getting to know the writers around you look like for you? But most importantly—and when it comes to writing camps, this is unavoidable—have fun!

Attending a first sleepaway writing camp isn’t just scary for young writers, it can also be scary for parents! Below are some things our family did to help prepare Madelyn for her time at the Alpha Young Writers Workshop.

As she mentioned above, Madelyn was fourteen when she was first selected for Alpha. This not only meant that she was the youngest writer in attendance, it also meant that most of the other writers were three to five years older than her. Her age and the age difference were both concerns for my husband and me. In order to ease my own anxiety, I put together a packet of contact information for all the folks running Alpha. Thankfully, their check-in information was very clear and the workshop’s agenda was comprehensive so we all knew what to expect when, and who to contact if needed.

To help us all stay connected during the camp and to give Madelyn time to discuss any concerns, we scheduled a call every night. Having the call time scheduled allowed us to look forward to catching up and wishing each other goodnight, just like we did at home. The camp’s programming did run into the evening on more than one occasion, thanks to fabulous readings by visiting authors, so we adjusted the schedule when needed. We also emphasized to Madelyn that she could call or text us any time, even if she just wanted to hear a familiar voice.

To cut down on packing, we made sure that Madelyn felt comfortable doing laundry since laundry facilities were open for Alpha attendees. She’d done laundry at home so knew the basics. We stopped by a local store carrying multiple washers and dryers so she could see different variations in controls and settings on various machines. This was great practice for college!

We also emphasized to Madelyn that her time at Alpha was an opportunity to experiment. She could test out life away from home, connecting with other teen and adult writers, and implementing methods and skills that she learned from the fabulous visiting authors. She could also experience having her work critiqued by others, critiquing the works of the other teen writers, and reading her work in public. We encouraged her to treat each new step as a learning opportunity in the amazing learning space that the folks at Alpha had created.

Attending Alpha was a game changer for Madelyn! She gained confidence in her writing and her voice, she met amazing young writers who she has worked with for years, and she learned useful approaches, skills, and techniques she still uses today from incredibly generous and talented authors.