Indiana Writing Project

Happy to announce that we are able to offer need-based scholarships for Creative Writing Camp (June 8-12) and Future Authors Camp (June 16-18). To learn more, email [email protected]

Registration is now open for Summer Creative Writing Camp! This summer we are once again able to offer two camps for students in grades 4-12, one in Muncie and one in Fishers.

UPDATE: Need-based scholarships available. To learn more, email us at [email protected]

This year’s camp will focus on creative writing in many genres, including narrative and poetry.

MUNCIE
June 8-12, 9AM – 12PM
Ball State Campus
For students in grades 4-12

FISHERS
June 8-12, 9AM – 12PM
Ball State Campus
For students in grades 4-12

Cost: $100

Questions? Email us [email protected]

Registration information is available at our website: https://www.indianawritingproject.com/writing-camps

Barb here, sharing my recent post! If you're feeling stuck writing, take some of our best advice and look to your mail, your texts with friends and family, or even your to-do lists to get over that hump - and yes, it also works for fiction writing!

Have you been trying to do more writing?

Take a tip from Writing Project teachers: All writing counts!

Yep- all of it! That means text messages, social media posts, diary entries, lists, emails, greeting card notes, refrigerator notes, notes on whiteboards. They’re all useful modes of expression for writers.

Why?

It's simple: The more you write, the better you get. And if you’re writing fiction, it’s likely that many of these kinds of written communication could enhance your narrative.

If you’re a kinesthetic learner, find some paper and literally create a note. Take a quick snap and add it to your online journal. Or paste it- literally- into your hands-on journal or writer’s notebook. Those are the places where you should be playing with words and craft. Why not play with various modes of correspondence, too?

If you’re more digitally inclined, use Canva or another tool to create a digital version of the document. Then save it.

And if your story isn’t a good fit for varied written content, this strategy still helps! Create a few pieces of writing to explore your protagonist. What would their diary entry look like- and why? What would your character post on Facebook on the worst day of her life? Why would she choose those words? Or how would he write a letter to his sweetie? You’ll learn more about your characters as you think deeply about their preferences and tendencies.

Practicing all types of writing has so many benefits!

➡️ It allows you to write with low pressure
➡️ It introduces new ways to convey plot or develop conflict
➡️ It helps you discover more about your characters.
➡️ It brings variety and fun into your daily writing.

How many different types of writing could your characters use each day? What might they reveal about your time, place or characters?

And how many do YOU use, yourself? What do you think that says about you? 😉

Registration is now open for Summer Creative Writing Camp! This summer we are once again able to offer two camps for students in grades 4-12, one in Muncie and one in Fishers.

UPDATE: Need-based scholarships available. To learn more, email us at [email protected]

This year’s camp will focus on creative writing in many genres, including narrative and poetry.

MUNCIE
June 8-12, 9AM – 12PM
Ball State Campus
For students in grades 4-12

FISHERS
June 8-12, 9AM – 12PM
Ball State Campus
For students in grades 4-12

Cost: $100

Questions? Email us [email protected]

Registration information is available at our website: https://www.indianawritingproject.com/writing-camps

Teachers, what did you learn from Covid? How do you use those lessons today?

Even though I’m retired now, there are some weeks when I remember.

https://barbaraswandermiller.com/2026/03/27/stepping-back-into-my-superhero-shoes/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQKNjYyODU2ODM3OQABHpU_OpcomShXwLO5Z1lIS2KPQZTd4X4pQDnRQzxUfPtAywXOOjGkcDsh-BDy_aem_q12_y9u4jS2JURp9LbgznA

Stepping Back Into My Superhero Shoes Last week I needed my superhero shoes.What began as knee pain recently resulted in a nine-day hospital stay for my mom. It was a surprise: At 90, she’s still mobile, interested in our activities, a…

Registration is now open for Summer Creative Writing Camp! This summer we are once again able to offer two camps for students in grades 4-12, one in Muncie and one in Fishers.

This year’s camp will focus on creative writing in many genres, including narrative and poetry.

MUNCIE
June 8-12, 9AM – 12PM
Ball State Campus
For students in grades 4-12

FISHERS
June 8-12, 9AM – 12PM
Ball State Campus
For students in grades 4-12

Cost: $100

Questions? Email us [email protected]

Registration information is available at our website: https://www.indianawritingproject.com/writing-camps

There's still time for students to register for our final Saturday Writing Session of the spring. On April 11, join us in writing poetry!

Who: Students in grades 3-12
Where: Robert Bell Bldg, Room 295, Ball State University
When: April 11, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Cost: $10

Registration information available at our website: https://www.indianawritingproject.com/writing-camps

Check out how I am shifting from classroom teacher to writer.

From Classroom to Keyboard: My Writing Routine My Social Media Manager/daughter Sally Shideler scolds me. She’s the one who uploads all the posts I create for Facebook and Substack and Wordpress.  She’s the one who looks at my analytics an…

https://www.facebook.com/share/1EJNDQ9gEb/?mibextid=wwXIfr

"Saturday, February 17, 1866

Better of the headache this morning though not well. I have been busy sewing today trying to make myself a cloth basque. Sister Lizzie and Eliza Watson went to Abram Washington’s to see their daughter who is sick with flu. Josiah, Anne, Beulah and Reuben went up to my schoolhouse to a temperance meeting. Abram Washington sent up for some of us, they thought their daughter was dying. J & E Watson and myself went. We found her in great pain, but she soon became easier and fell asleep. When I came away, J & E are still there. J Butler is quite unwell since returning from meeting."

- Mary Jane Edwards, Jackson, Mississippi

So much for Saturdays being a day of rest for teachers, at least for those who went south. With so many pressures on the teachers on their days off, it’s no wonder so many were ill so often.

Are we overtaxing our teachers today?

SAVE THE DATES: Warmer weather has us looking forward to summer! Creative Writing Camp for students in grades 4-12 takes place from June 8 to 12.

Registration opens March 16.

There is still time to register for the first Saturday Writing Session of the spring semester on Feb. 14: https://www.indianawritingproject.com/