Young Writers' Institute

Paranormal stories elevate the ordinary world by adding magic, mythical creatures, terrifying beasts, or unexplained events. Create a supernatural object or being and build a story around its unique traits! Does your story have a mischievous elf, a bloodthirsty vampire, a magical sword, mysterious floating orbs, or maybe a terrible storm that leaves something strange behind? The possibilities are endless...let's explore!

Grades 5-6
August 17-21
9am-12pm

For more info or to register, please visit https://www.hisawyer.com/young-writers-institute/schedules/activity-set/1749380

As ocean travel flourished in the 1700s and 1800s, the seas were full of dangerous pirates. What was a pirate's life really like? What sort of quests did they undertake, and how did they plan their daring raids? How did they operate clever schemes, escape capture, and survive treacherous waters? In this camp, we’ll learn about the lives of Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, Captain Jack, Madame Cheng, and other fearsome pirates who made history and legend, and use them as inspiration to craft our own thrilling tales of adventure on the high seas. From secret coves and hidden treasure to epic battles and clever escapes, young writers will bring their stories to life with suspense, humor, and imagination!

Grades 3-4
August 17-21
1-4pm

For more info or to register, please visit https://www.hisawyer.com/young-writers-institute/schedules/activity-set/1749381

Quests have been a part of the human narrative since we first began telling stories, and they remain just as captivating and thrilling today as they were thousands of years ago. Characters are driven by a need or a desire to seek, to find, to experience, and to discover, and they will stop at nothing to reach their goals! In our camp, we’ll first define an object of the quest, then create an adventurous character that rises to the challenge. Then we’ll send them on their journeys where they’ll face seemingly insurmountable obstacles and watch how they use their strength, wit, and charm to complete their quests.

Grades 6-7
August 10-14
1-4pm

For more info or to register, please visit https://www.hisawyer.com/young-writers-institute/schedules/activity-set/1749379

We have added a new IEW Level A2 class to our schedule to accommodate more sixth and seventh graders who want to work on foundational essay writing skills.

We now have three Level A2 classes:
Tuesdays 4:15-5:30
or
Tuesdays 6:45-8:00pm TWO SPOTS LEFT
or
Thursdays 11:00am-12:15pm for homeschoolers

If your child would benefit from a rigorous, highly structured writing curriculum with plenty of feedback and support, we would love to welcome him or her to an IEW class!

Read more about our IEW program here: https://trianglekidswrite.net/iew-courses

We have space available in some after-school and homeschool IEW classes, though several are now full. If the class you need is full, please join the waitlist!

Questions? Please reach out! Message us on social media, call, text, or email:
919.607.3737
[email protected]

For the first time in YWI history, we had a camp week finish the World's Greatest Search and Discover! The morning Mysteries camp and the afternoon Art Journaling camp found all 370 hidden objects. I promised I would announce this for the whole world to hear. 😄

Share your poetry with the community!

The Town of Cary is celebrating 50 years of the Lazy Daze arts and crafts festival! YWI is a proud part of the art community in Cary, and we are celebrating by sharing poetry throughout the town. Our idea is to post original poems in 50 locations in Downtown Cary, creating fun and surprising literary encounters for all visitors to enjoy.

We need your help! Would you be willing to share a poem? We are looking for poetry of all kinds from every poet in your family. Send us your poem, and we will post it in a business or restaurant downtown! There is no word count requirement, and your poem can be about any subject that is appropriate for a general audience.

Send a message to us here on Facebook, or send to [email protected]. Include your poem and any identifying info you would like to include. You can use your full name, part of your name, your initials, or a pseudonym. You might also consider including your age and a one-sentence blurb about yourself.

Deadline: Monday, July 27, 2026.

We are excited to see masterpieces from our YWI families!

August 10-14, 9am-12pm
Grades 8 and up

TWO SPOTS LEFT!

Explore the magic of romance writing! In this engaging, creative, NO CRINGE camp for teen writers, we'll create memorable characters, craft believable relationships, and build stories full of emotion, tension, and heart. From contemporary to fantasy, we will experiment with different subgenres while learning how to make every moment between characters feel real and compelling. Get ready to spark your imagination, dive into the drama of love, and make your readers swoon!

For more information or to register, please visit: https://www.hisawyer.com/young-writers-institute/schedules/activity-set/1749378

Three spots left in this camp later this month!
For more info or to register, visit https://www.hisawyer.com/young-writers-institute/schedules/activity-set/1749376

One spot available in our fantasy camp for our youngest writers!

Are you a fan of Harry Potter or Wings of Fire? Do you love fire-breathing dragons, secret spells, and brave heroes? Then come cast a writerly spell with us in this magical fantasy writing camp! With the wave of a #2 pencil (our very own wand), students will invent fantastical creatures, imagine enchanted lands, and build exciting adventures filled with challenges, mysteries, and magic. Through fun games, storytelling activities, drawing, and writing time, students will learn how to turn big ideas into mystical fantasy stories. Whether you already love writing or just love magical tales, this camp will show you that writing can be an adventure all its own!

For more info or to register, please visit https://www.hisawyer.com/young-writers-institute/schedules/activity-set/1749375

Only 4 spots available in this fun camp next week!

Comic books and graphic novels are a relatively new and explosively popular literary form. That means that it is totally open for experimentation! First we'll create characters - maybe classic superheroes, or maybe someone totally new. We'll explore how story techniques evolve in this format, and how professional graphic novelists incorporate dialogue, exposition, emotion, and action with pictures and words. Then we'll plan a fantastic story using varied composing and drawing techniques. Each student will work to create at least the first three pages and the cover of the comic book, and they can take their work home to finish on their own. Don't worry about drawing skills - no artistic experience is needed to create an amazing comic book!

July 20-24
1pm-4pm
Grades 5-6

For more information or to register, please visit: https://www.hisawyer.com/young-writers-institute/schedules/activity-set/1749373