Today Mr. Eric visited camp and asked the kids an important question: What do you do if you are an author and you want to get published? There were some great responses, such as paying to publish it yourself and…

Tampa Bay Area Writing Project
Nurturing a community of writers, young and old, novice and expert, students and teachers.
Today Mr. Eric visited camp and asked the kids an important question: What do you do if you are an author and you want to get published? There were some great responses, such as paying to publish it yourself and…
"All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray" is not just the famous first lines of the song California Dreamin' by the Mamas and the Papas. The lyrics launched many a poem and narrative today, and all of…
Read More Day 8 at St. Pete I.C.E. Writers: Music and Lyrics
"When your why is big enough, you will find your how," according to motivational speaker Les Brown. Well, kids have known that for ages because that is often their favorite word to repeat in the car, on vacation, in the…
Read More Day 7 at St. Pete I.C.E. Writers: Asking Why Leads to How
Characters really let their true colors fly when they are writing a review about a horrible product. Our quick write this morning launched our characters from last week's monologues into a whole new mode -- expressing their thoughts about terrible…
Read More Day 6 at St. Pete I.C.E. Writers: Brainstorming Blast
"Close your eyes, and just listen to my voice. There is a door in front of you. Open it. What do you see when you walk through to the other side?" Today we began by visualizing spaces through a mindfulness…
Read More Day 5 at St. Pete I.C.E. Writers: Kicking it with Poetry, Dashes, and Parentheses
Scenery, setting, and Sci-fi/fantasy were the focus today. From the get go, students were immersed with natural scenery to evoke ideas for settings. We played freeze dance while waking up a bit with beautiful scenery in the background. Next, campers…
Building upon yesterday's lesson that focused on us, today we turned that lens around to create characters and monologues using a unique method: examining receipts! We first explored things we notice about people when we first meet them and what…
Read More Day 3 at St. Pete I.C.E. Writers: Monologues Create Perspectives
Sometimes it's okay to get too emotional. Today, we explored the truths of who we are, what we enjoy, and what makes each of us unique. That led to some pretty amazing moments. We began the day decorating "ME" posters…
Read More Day 2 at St. Pete I.C.E. Writers: Maps of Ourselves
Campers shook off the rainy Monday blues and burst with creativity today. We explored all the ways in which we know our names, where they come from, and why they matter to us. We were amazed that so many campers…
Today Youth Programs Director Mr. Eric returned to talk to us about what to do with "finished" writing. We'd spent the last two weeks inspired to make new writing, sharing with our peers, getting and giving feedback, and hunkered down…
Read More Day 9 at North Tampa I.C.E. Writers: You Are Accepted