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Since I learned to grasp a pencil, I knew writing was the thing for me. I didn’t have a chance to meet an actual writer till I was in high school, and there was no opportunity for me to take extracurricular classes to practise my writing. Other kids did piano, or dance, or played baseball, with coaches and teachers to help guide them. I made stories by myself, with the feedback and encouragement of my excellent parents.

A recent conversation with a friend who homeschools her daughters made me think about starting a writing workshop for kids. After the first session, I was hooked. I was so dazzled by the kids and their passion for writing. Watching them think through plot and character problems, listening to the language they reach for to freshly describe mundane objects and events, learning from the kindness and curiosity they bring to giving feedback to their peers—it’s all been incredibly rewarding.

Tiny Empire Writing Workshop is exactly what I would have loved when I was a young writer. An hour a week to meet with other writers, learn a little more about plot, character, setting, structure, how to use language, how to share work and respond to the work of others, and lots of fuel to keep writing. Heck, it’s what I love as a not-very-young-anymore writer.