Here are four things I learn every time I teach the four day Writers Studio at UCLA Extension:

1. 99.9 percent of people who come to writing workshops are insecure about their writing.

2. Five minute writing exercises are the best way for people to jump into whatever they’re nervous about writing.

3. Everybody has a story to tell, and they are incredibly brave as they work on those stories.

4. People who are serious about writing become close friends in four days and form their own writing group. (One of the best things that can happen when you take a class.)