A dedicated group of teen writers gather to share their writing and receive feedback at the Oklahoma Young Writers Workshop each month.
This workshop is organized by a teen board who works with local libraries and Literati Press, a bookstore in the Paseo district, to create a space for young writers to share and collaborate with each other. Both senior Charlotte Waldo and junior Bridgy McCollum attended the first writers workshop, and later joined the teen board.
“Since I love to write and these are people who love to write, and I don’t really have a lot of friends who write, I was like this is really cool; I should be part of this,” McCollum said.
Waldo attended middle school with Zoey Epperson, the president of the teen board
Zoey Epperson, the president of the teen board, was Waldo’s classmate in middle school, and she invited her to join. She knew Waldo was interested in writing and wanted to have her help with starting the teen board.
“I used to write a lot when I was younger like poetry and short stories, but when I got into high school I got a little bit too busy,” Waldo said. “The teen board helped me get back into it because I heard what other teens were doing and how they fit writing into their schedule.”
The workshops begin with a young published writer as a guest speaker. They talk about their story and how they got published. Then people are free to share excerpts of their writing from short stories, poetry, novels, and even college essays. They receive feedback and constructive criticism from their fellow writers.
“I am thinking of minoring in creative industries in college because of the teen board,” Waldo said. “ It got me interested in publishing, producing and scriptwriting. It just got me really interested in how writing plays a role in different industries.”
The workshop was also inspiring to senior McKenzie Morgan, another member of the teen board, who has plans to become a screenwriter.
“Mostly I wrote a bunch of outlines and never actually put my work into an actual story format, but then going to the workshop and hearing people read excerpts from their short stories, or some people have written whole novels already, really inspired me to get busy on my own ideas instead of just plotting,” Morgan said.
The teen board has also made efforts to connect with the larger community of writers in Oklahoma City by attending both LitFest at the downtown library and ZineFest, where they sold their own literary magazine.
“I got to volunteer and work the booth for the Young Writers Workshop at LitFest in September,” Waldo said. “It was just a really fun opportunity to meet other writers in the community and see what they’re doing to get their writing out there more, and it really inspired me.”
For students interested in attending a workshop or joining the teen board, they can find more information on their website.
“When I was at the workshop, I thought it was a good collaborative environment,” Morgan said. “I’ve always been interested in writing, and I’ve never been to any writers workshops before to further that interest, so I thought I should take the chance to be a part of it.”
