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Arts & Entertainment

Writers' Workshop Offers Outlet to Teens

The Teen Writers' Workshop meets every other Thursday at Brighton District Library under the direction of Mike Ball.

It's no surprise that writing can serve as the perfect outlet for a kid who's craving less parental involvement and a bigger arena to practice independence. Writing allows teens to consider their emotions, work through ideas and develop critical thinking and literacy skills. Because its privacy settings are individualized, writing can be any degree of public or private.

In any case, the power of paper, whether digital or material, gives teens the courage to discover and explore their “voice.”

Every other Thursday, a group of teens meets at Brighton District Library to do just that. They write. They share. They think. They share. Then they write, think and share some more. Their approach really is that simple, their actions really that pure.

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The Teen Writers' Workshop is led by acclaimed columnist Mike Ball, who has written professionally for 40 years and leads several other writing groups in the area.

“There aren't a lot of resources for kids,” he said. “They're hard to reach because they're so busy building their own worlds.”

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Those worlds can be difficult to enter, but Ball seems to have no trouble accessing, navigating and validating the realities of each workshop participant. Incredibly down-to-earth, Ball says he aims to “treat the kids like pros.” Instead of grading or passing judgment on the teens' work, he highlights successes and points out opportunities to push writing to the next level.

The encouragement is working; some of the teens are already pursuing publication, and others plan to write professionally.

That isn't to say the group is entirely career-driven. A couple of the teens said they show up each week for the discussions the group generates. One girl, attending for the first time, said she came because her friend, who's a regular participant, loves to write.

At this particular meeting, the conference table felt more like a dinner table. There was a sense of familiarity, of openness and of support. Members of the group snap their fingers in unison after anyone reads aloud, and the verbal feedback is often punctuated by thumbs-ups. Ball responds with genuine wonder, weaving definitions, suggestions and recommendations into his comments.

He also discussed writing habits, explaining the importance of getting something, anything, down on paper. “Time is the only irreplaceable product we have,” he said

So often, we hear the utterances of bored teens not knowing how to spend their time. Maybe all they need is a notebook (digital or deciduous) to help them capture instead of kill time.

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