A Chance for Young Writers

I still have a number of my stories written in middle and high school. They show a distinct L.M. Montgomery flair—my reading taste in the era was full of her writing. While I still love a good L.M. Montgomery novel or short story, I probably could have benefitted from someone teaching me about story structure or developing characters. I would have been better able to see what it was that L.M. Montgomery did well, and probably would have been better able to learn how to do it in my own voice, rather than mimicking hers.

It’s for those kids that we are launching the first Bandersnatch Books One-Day Writing Camp this summer. We’ll be meeting in-person in Matthews, North Carolina on Friday, July 31, and providing middle school and high school students a day of working on the craft of writing.

We haven’t locked in every session, but these are the kinds of topics we plan to explore:

• Story Structure

• Shaping Characters

• Using Writing Sprints

• Rhythm, Word Choice, & Poetry

• Writing Dialogue

We plan to start the day at 10 am with an opening set of word games (including any parents who want to hang out and play with us!), then move into writing sprints. After some learning and trying writing sprints, we’ll move into our sessions, and students can think about all the topics we explore from the perspective of the work they have in front of them. We’ll break for lunch (bring your own!), and then finish out our day with some time to edit the work they started that morning (or something else they bring along!).

We’ll wrap up around 3:30 pm, and parents can return to explore and make some purchases at the Bandersnatch Book Table before picking up their students and heading home inspired to write more!

The sessions will be led by our Bandersnatch Books team, and registration is $50/student, with family rates and scholarships available (contact us at info@bandersnatchbooks.com if you need a scholarship).

We’ll be meeting in Matthews, North Carolina. We’d love to have your students join us! Unfortunately, at this point, we are only offering this event in-person.

If you’ve got a precocious upper-elementary student, reach out—we may have some spots for them. Also, if you have an older teen who might be interested in helping lead younger writers in some activities, send them our way!

What session topics do you wan to see at this event?

Register for Writing Camp

July 14, 2026 - Release of Seichō Summer by Bethany Faulk
July 31, 2026 - One-Day Writing Camp for middle school and high school
Summer 2026 - Release of Loved Not Wisely by Katherine Ladny Mitchell

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"Your work as a writer, when you are giving everything you have to your characters and to your readers, will periodically make you feel like the single parent of a three-year-old, who is, by turns, wonderful, willful, terrible, crazed, and adoring."
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird