Writers @ Harriman students have opportunities to write poetry, essays, plays, screenplays, and short stories. You work in small groups and one-on-one with professional teaching writers, each experienced as novelists, poets, screenwriters, and fiction writers. A camp naturalist and park staff address specifics of the area. Working within a framework provided by the writers, the curriculum accommodates your skills and interests, beginning where you are and challenging you to experiment in new writing forms and to tout your strengths.

The teaching writers focus upon reading, writing, and thinking, and even more writing. From first-hand experiences, they address the empty page, anxiety, research, using electronic resources, plagiarism, and methods for overcoming common pitfalls.

One of the most important parts of the camp is learning constructive feedback—receiving it, offering it, and then applying it. Coming from from peers or an instructor, a student may need to work on showing versus telling, scope, character development, and plot progression. The young writers have extended periods in which to write and rewrite with professional guidance close at hand. (Students frequently remark upon the luxury of having this time without the limitations of home and school.) You are encouraged to view much of your writing as a work in progress, leaving it open to greater possibility. By week’s end, each student is expected to produce at least one piece ready for publication.