Through the Swampscott Recreation Department’s creative writing course hosted by Maia Gosselin, 10-year-old Maya wrote 16 pages of a mystery book. She took ideas from her family’s background, like having the main character have the same first job as her dad’s when he was younger. 

Her book, Rescuing Timmy, follows a girl who has to save the turtle at the aquarium from being illegally sold. 

“I told a lot of people at school, and they want to read it,” Maya said. 

Gosselin, author of The Mermaid’s Tear, led a creative writing club through the Swampscott Recreation Department from late January through February, teaching local third- and fourth-grade students how to turn an idea into a story. Gosselin shared her own experiences while encouraging the students to plan, draft, revise and publish their own work.

“Like this group, I have been a writer since I was a little kid. I always visualized writing lots of books and trying to work through the creative process,” Gosselin said. “I hadn’t seen a place like this where kids could come together and brainstorm and go through the whole process of what it’s like to make a book.”

Students learned about synonyms, verb tenses and proofreading their own work. They moved through drafts, revisions and peer critiques, while also making decisions about binding, covers, fonts, images and colors.

“I know how challenging it can be to have an idea and want to make it into something,” Gosselin said. “I thought if we could get some kids together to give each other feedback, bounce off each other for ideas. Everybody wrote a very different story.” 

Teegan took a more fantasy-approach to her story. Enchanted Cave is narrated in first person by a bunny, who is best friends with a bear.

“It’s an unusual friendship, but they make it work,” Teegan said, summarizing one of the quotes in her story. 

Shahaan wrote a comic-book-style story with action-packed words and characters that went on an adventure. His older sister even helped out and drew the illustrations.

Alice wrote a superhero story. She said she’s had the idea for the story since she was in kindergarten, and there are at least seven other stories in her series. 

But Alice and other students get the opportunity to continue writing stories – or try out one for the first time – with the Swampscott Recreation Department’s second installment of the creative writing club. Gosselin will return to the classroom for third- and fourth-graders on Tuesdays, March 10 through April 7, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. 

The program costs $100 per student, and those interested can register at swampscott.recdesk.com.

“I’m just excited to keep it going,” Gosselin said.