After working with adolescent writers for ten years, I have found that adolescents who are given the opportunity to write creatively in a safe, caring classroom environment become more interested in writing and strive to improve their writing skills.  For the past two years, I have taught an after school creative writing club for middle school students.  I have worked to establish an atmosphere in which the students feel comfortable, and in which they trust one another and me.  It has been exciting to see the club grow from an original group of only four students to an average of twenty students currently enrolled.  However, as the club has grown, I have found myself wishing I could find ways to connect with even more students through writing.
     Why do students choose to come to my  after school creative writing club?  What motivates them?  Have they always been motivated students?  Is there something I could do to motivate more students to be interested in writing?   I began asking myself these questions, and then I began asking my students.  Through conducting  interviews, examining literacy biographies, and reading articles in professional journals and books, I have spent the last seven months researching the reasons adolescents are motivated to write.  I realize that I will never have all of the answers, but I hope that what I have found will help me to connect with more potential adolescent writers both during the school day and after school.  I also hope that other educators may find my research useful, and that they may decide to begin a creative writing club at their schools.