The Writers Circle will

  • Build writing confidence
  • Spur imagination and self-expression
  • Ignite a passion for reading
  • Improve compositional skills
  • Teach the value of rewriting
  • Make writing fun
Child Writing

Here's what people are saying:

"Thank you for your energy and ability to inspire creativity."

- Janice J., West Orange, NJ

"My son had to write a book report every week when he was in third grade. It was a painful task for him and for me. I decided to register him for Story Magic, and wow! What a difference after the first week. Thank you! I'm so grateful for this class."

- Roxanne S., Elizabeth, NJ

"My son is enjoying Michelle's class very much. He says that she allows him to be imaginative and creative as he is often times restricted in his school. My daughter is having fun in your class as well!"

- Anthony E., Livingston, NJ

My daughter has so been enjoying Story Magic. Judith has a wonderful way of offering encouragement and specific positive feedback at the same time that she points a way forward and offers constructive suggestions.

- Jerusha N., Verona, NJ

My son has made huge strides this year and I attribute The Writers Circle with breaking through his block against and anxiety about writing.  He actually skipped out the door and through the rain yesterday on his way to the car to go to class.  The day before he was bored and begging to play Wii.  I suggested he get out his writer's book and HE DID!  He wrote for at least 20 minutes which is huge for him. THANK YOU!

- Carol H., West Orange, NJ

Judith Lindbergh is delightful, knowledgable, and very supportive. She's a mom and has great rapport with kids. Well worth it.

- Susan B., West Orange, NJ

I wasn't sure at all how my son would feel about taking a creative writing class, since he has never really seemed comfortable writing at school, so I just signed him up and told him afterwards. From the moment we got to class, I knew Judith would support him and make him feel comfortable.

After the first class, we could tell he had really enjoyed himself and was proud of the story he had started. When we put him to bed that night, he asked if he could have his notebook to finish the story. He said it would help him fall asleep, and although we didn't believe that for a minute, we did want to encourage him, so we agreed. At 11pm, when we thought he must be asleep, he came downstairs and asked us to read the finished piece. I was so impressed by how creative it was and also that he had taken the time to do it (in the past, he'd speed through any writing assignment that came his way). I am so grateful that the class has given us the opportunity to take writing out of a school context and make it fun for him.

- Stacey H., South Orange, NJ

(TWC takes care not to identify its young students, including their last names, on the web!)

10 Truths about Creative Writing

1. Write whatever comes into your head. You can always fix it later.

2. You can write about anything. No subject is taboo.

3. Writing is an adventure (and can be about an adventure).

4. Words are toys, costumes, props, the playground. Writing is the game.

5. You can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone through your writing.

6. Writing is better than screaming, yelling, punching or crying.

7. Writing is how you can be heard even when no one will listen.

8. Writing is about joy, hopes, dreams, and fantastic futures.

9. Writing isn’t an assignment, it’s an invitation.

10. With writing, there are no rules.

The Magic of Words

Creativity, Imagination and Play are
the most critical tools of writing.

Childhood is filled with storytelling and imagination games.

Then why, by the time our kids reach 3rd or 4th grade, aren’t they thrilled to be writing amazingly creative, imaginative stories?

For many children, the words – or the rigid mechanics of reading and writing – get in the way. For others, the intense pressure to get it "right" shuts the creative flow down to a mere trickle.

The Writers Circle Creative Writing Workshops tap into children’s natural enthusiasm and free their creative spirit. But instead of using toys or costumes, we use the most powerful creative tool ever created – the written word.

Using a multidisciplinary approach that includes role-playing, music, movement and tactile experience as well as examples of great stories from around the world, children dive into the excitement of playing with words while developing their writing skills.

About TWC's Director

Judith Lindbergh, novelist and creative writing teacher
teaching in South Orange and Maplewood, NJ

Judith Lindbergh, Director of The Writers Circle

“Words are like magic, each with its own power. Sprinkle one, two, three, four and suddenly you’re transported to another world.”

- Judith Lindbergh, Director of The Writers Circle

Judith Lindbergh’s debut novel, The Thrall's Tale, about women in Viking Age Greenland, was a Booksense (IndieBound) Pick, a Borders Original Voices Selection and praised by Pulitzer Prize winners Geraldine Brooks and Robert Olen Butler. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including Archaeology Magazine, Scandinavian Review, The World & I, the literary journal Other Voices, and more. She also contributed to the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibition Vikings: The Norse Atlantic Saga.

Since 2006, Judith has mentored adult writers through the Writers Support Circle at the South Orange-Maplewood Adult School. In January 2010, she created The Writers Circle, extending her workshops to children and expanding her offerings for adults.

She traces her teaching approach to her background as a professional dancer and actress, and from the lessons learned from one of her greatest writing mentors, Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time.

Judith believes in the uniqueness of each writer’s voice. All writers have something valid to say. Judith’s classes aim to coax that pure, honest expression from each of her students.

Learn more about her novel at www.judithlindbergh.com and about her teaching philosophy at The Writers Circle Blog.

TWC's Associate Director

Michelle Cameron, teaching in Madison, NJ

Michelle Cameron

 Michelle Cameron's The Fruit of Her Hands: the story of Shira of Ashkenaz relates the life of the author's 13th Century ancestor, Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg. Publisher’s Weekly praised the novel’s “powerful immediacy” and Library Journal its “rich details.”

Her full-length novel in verse, In the Shadow of the Globe, was named the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's 2003-4 Winter Book Selection.

Michelle taught business and marketing writing at the College of Saint Elizabeth, creative writing at the Poetry & Prose Winter Getaway in Cape May, and gave seminars and workshops for Murphy Writing Seminars, the Morris Museum, Drew University’s Shakespeare in Performance Colloquium II, Brandeis University, and at various local libraries and poetry festivals.

She attributes her literary success to a unique muse, her son, whose intense passion for writing made Michelle persist in her literary ambitions despite the pressures of work and family. Michelle has been blessed by the generosity of various writing teachers during her journey as a writer, and hopes to offer other aspiring writers the same encouragement and support.

TWC Teachers

Paula Balzer, teaching in South Orange, NJ

Paula Balzar

Paula Balzer is a literary agent and the author of Writing & Selling Your Memoir (Writers Digest Books/July 2011). Her authors include New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Robbins (Pledged, Quarterlife Crisis, Secrets of the Tomb), Oscar-Award winning writer of “Juno” Diablo Cody (Candy Girl), American Idol judge Randy Jackson (What’s Up Dawg?) and Bobby Henderson (Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster).

Jenny Milchman, teaching in South Orange, NJ

Jenny Milchman Jenny Milchman is a suspense writer from New Jersey. Her debut novel, COVER OF SNOW, is forthcoming from Ballantine in 2013, with short stories to be published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and ADIRONDACK MYSTERIES II in 2012. Jenny is the Chair of International Thriller Writers' Debut Authors Program, and the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day. She features bestsellers, Edgar winners, and independent authors on her blog, suspenseyourdisbelief.com. Jenny teaches writing and publishing for New York Writers Workshop as well as The Writers Circle , and co-hosts the series Writing Matters at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, NJ.

Jennifer Walkup, teaching in Madison, NJ

Jennifer Walkup Jennifer Walkup is a young adult novelist who loves to lose herself in the words and worlds of a good book and believes some of the best friendships can be made on the written page. When she's not reading, she writes young adult novels and short fiction for adults. She has been published in a variety of venues, most recently the Genre Wars Anthology and Gloom Cupboard. She serves as fiction editor for The Meadowland Review and is thrilled to be teaching creative writing at The Writer’s Circle.