Editor's Note: YWP needs your help! We're gathering your thoughts on what Young Writers Project means to you for a campaign to sustain and grow this amazing, creative space for young writers and artists! If YWP has had an impact on your life, please respond to our    "YWP Is ..." challenge.

 YWP is a place where
(only a couple) 
people know me,
and i'm comfortable with that,
i'd rather hide under a mask than 
have people know when they read,
who i am, 
where i come from 
and all things in between.

YWP is a place where
no one judges 
(okay, well maybe we do,)
but we never tell others 
that they can't do it,
or ever bring them down,
they are free to express their feelings
(however they see fit.)

YWP is a place where
you can always know that 
there are people who support you
(always, even if you feel alone in real life)
even if they don't know who you are,
a community of people who 
hold each other up with
the fine thread of words
(dangling) from the tips of their pens.

YWP is a place where 
you can share your thoughts
(however trivial or deep they might be)
and expect someone to pay attention,
someone to feel the same way you do, 
all the nightmares that you never (ever)
told anyone about,
you can spill out and let them darken 
the page, because we all know
that it's better to let things go
that bottle them up
(until they explode)

YWP is a disguise,
a second skin that
you can slip on when 
you feel the world is too much,
when you need to scream where
people can hear you,
(where people understand) 
and you can write up a storm without 
anyone ever knowing 
that you are you.
(no one in school will ever say
'hey, you're that writing kid,
aren't you?') 

YWP is a home
(without walls,
without roof,
without doors,)
that makes you feel so good
to be there,
to write there,
to see all the people that 
love the (almost the same)
thing as you,
in all their shapes (and colors).

YWP is mine
and yours
(and all of ours).

YWP is a 
gift.
(that just keeps on giving)

YWP is everything.