What Is It?
Back for its 3rd year, The Young Writers Initiative's Mentorship Program is a completely free, 8 week long summer program that pairs a young writer with an experienced writer who is established in their genre. We have fiction, novel, poetry, journalism, and screenwriting mentors. During the course of the mentorship, mentees and mentors will communicate and will design their schedules as they see fit. Mentees and mentors have control over their relationship, so that may include the mentor advising you on your plot, answering questions about the publishing world, or helping the writer with their craft.
The summer 2023 Mentorship Program will run from July 1st through September 1st. There will be two mandatory meetings between the mentee and the mentor, along with communication throughout the program. The Young Writers Initiative will provide you content to facilitate your relationship, but we want the mentee and mentor to work together to decide what their relationship will be like.
The summer 2023 Mentorship Program will run from July 1st through September 1st. There will be two mandatory meetings between the mentee and the mentor, along with communication throughout the program. The Young Writers Initiative will provide you content to facilitate your relationship, but we want the mentee and mentor to work together to decide what their relationship will be like.
Eligibility
- You must be in between the ages of 13-18.
- Anyone can apply, including TYWI team members and volunteers not directly involved in the mentorship program or a summer camp counselor.
- Mentee applicants are only allowed to apply to 2 mentors maximum, so choose wisely
Application
things you need: fill out the application and a writing portfolio
Here at the TYWI Program, we do things a bit different: mentee applicants must apply to specific mentors (it isn't one singular application if you want to be considered for more than one mentor.) Then, the mentor selects out of their specific applicants.
Why do we do this? We believe that a mentee and mentor know if they are the best for each other. If we allow mentees to apply to specific mentors, the relationship is more authentic. Don't believe us? Read the testimonials from last year's mentees here.
Why do we do this? We believe that a mentee and mentor know if they are the best for each other. If we allow mentees to apply to specific mentors, the relationship is more authentic. Don't believe us? Read the testimonials from last year's mentees here.
- Make sure you are eligible for our program, read the rules, and check out each mentor.
- Prepare a writing portfolio (a writing portfolio is a document of up to 10 pages of your writing. If you can submit less than 10 pages, but not more. This can be 10 pages of poems, a 10 page excerpt of your novel, a short story, etc. Please do not exceed 10 pages (if we recieve a whole novel, that will be an automatic disqualification.) You can include previously published or publicly shared work.
- Fill out the application for each mentor you desire to mentor you by May 15th, 11:59 CST. You may apply to 2 mentors maximum, and you need to submit all the different application forms. If you want to see the questions prior to filling out the application, that will be coming soon.
- It is highly suggested that you save your responses on a google doc, word document, or any other place prior to submitting! Google forms can mismanage data, and we do not want you to waste all your time having to restart. Plus, you can use the general responses for each different mentor.
- That's it! Decisions will come out in early June once mentors have sifted through all the applications.
Summer Camp
It is a program filled with workshops, feedback, challenges, and so much more, but it's also based on your own time except some mandatory events to attend. It can be a 2-3 hour committment a week or a 5-10 hour committment, how much you get out of it depends on how much you put in. MENTEES DO NOT HAVE TO REGISTER YET. Summer Camp Registration opens next month, so all mentees are automatically admitted into summer camp and all applicants will be asked to register if they wish so, but don't worry about it now.
All mentees are required to do summer camp in order to better their experience and furthur immerse themselves in writing. Summer camp is built of four things
All mentees are required to do summer camp in order to better their experience and furthur immerse themselves in writing. Summer camp is built of four things
- Workshops: we have weekly workshops (and smaller workshops run by counselors) througout the week. They are strongly encouraged, but only a few are mandatory, and those are the ones with guest speakers, and will often be more broad
- Community: Summer Campers are divided into individual genre camps, and will have their own activities and excercises based on their genre. They will also have different summer camp counselor's that will guide them through their writing journey over these two months. Summer camp is a great way to meet people from around the world and make life-long writer friends.
Tips for the application?
1. Fill it out early! We send it to our mentors right as we get them as to prevent any backlog, so the more proactive you are about getting in, the mentor may be able to have more time to consider your application.
2. Show passion and intent: mentors want to work with young writers who are serious and passionate about their writing, so let that shine in your answers.
3. Polish your writing portfolio: the mentors will look at these, so make sure you're submitting your best work, and that there aren't any glaring mistakes.
4. Save your answers on a google doc or word processor. Google forms can be pesky sometimes, so you want to make sure you save all your answers before clicking out of the application or submitting. Google forms does not save your responses, and it refreshes, so be prepared. We suggest you write your answers in a document first and then insert them into the application.
5. Research your mentor. You are more than welcome to apply to any mentor you'd like to mentor you, but make sure that the mentor you are applying to writes in your same genre, and is looking for the same in the mentorship as you are.
6. Be confident and don't stress: Believe in yourself! Doubt is the killer of the writer, and we want as many people to apply. This program is all about accessibility, so you don't have to worry about saving up to pay for the program. While this is our most selective program, it willbe okay if you don't get in. Sometimes, mentors hold events for everyone that applied to them. If you don't selected, your summer won't be boring. We have summer camp, which is our most enjoyed program! All mentees must do summer camp in conjunction with the mentorship.
2. Show passion and intent: mentors want to work with young writers who are serious and passionate about their writing, so let that shine in your answers.
3. Polish your writing portfolio: the mentors will look at these, so make sure you're submitting your best work, and that there aren't any glaring mistakes.
4. Save your answers on a google doc or word processor. Google forms can be pesky sometimes, so you want to make sure you save all your answers before clicking out of the application or submitting. Google forms does not save your responses, and it refreshes, so be prepared. We suggest you write your answers in a document first and then insert them into the application.
5. Research your mentor. You are more than welcome to apply to any mentor you'd like to mentor you, but make sure that the mentor you are applying to writes in your same genre, and is looking for the same in the mentorship as you are.
6. Be confident and don't stress: Believe in yourself! Doubt is the killer of the writer, and we want as many people to apply. This program is all about accessibility, so you don't have to worry about saving up to pay for the program. While this is our most selective program, it willbe okay if you don't get in. Sometimes, mentors hold events for everyone that applied to them. If you don't selected, your summer won't be boring. We have summer camp, which is our most enjoyed program! All mentees must do summer camp in conjunction with the mentorship.
What if I can't choose who I want as a mentor?
You can apply to more than one mentor! Remember though, do your research and make sure that the mentors you apply to are the right fit for you.
How many mentees will selected
One mentor only mentors one mentee, meaning 12 mentees will be selected.
Will the applications be blind?
No, they will not be read blind (meaning that they will not be read anonymously). This is because we think that each mentor should get to choose a mentee that they will be able to work best with. However, please do not think of bribing the mentors to pick you. This is highly disrespectful and the mentors will tell us. You will be removed from all TYWI programs if you do so
Can I contact potential mentors?
We suggest not, though it is on a case by case basis
What is it like being a mentee?
One of our mentee-mentor pairings last year wrote a great article together on the experience! You can check it out here
What does the time commitment of this program look like per week?
The actual mentorship will be up to you and your mentor, but mentoees have to participate in summer camp, so around 5-7 hours a week. Depending on your mentorship, that may be more.
What if I just started writing and don't have any I want to share?
We require all mentees to submit a sample of their work. Your work does not have to be 10 pages long, that is just the maximum. If you have no writing experience, we recommend you register for our free summer camp instead.
What if I have more questions?
Will I have to ask my parents?
If you are accepted and are 17 or under, we will contact your parent or guardian asking for their consent for legal purposes. If you are unable to get your parents consent, we will have to unfortunately remove you from the program.
When will I know if I've been accepted?
We will released acceptances on the last week of May
If you have any more questions, contact Elizabeth (elizabeth@tywi.org) or Eliza (eliza@tywi.org) or our instagram @tywiorg.