Students become enthusiastic about writing when they are sharing their words with different audiences, Choy said. And getting their work published gives students a sense of accomplishment and improves confidence.

For Samantha Valle, now a sophomore at Sacred Hearts Academy, seeing her story "Just Another Friday" published came as a shock. "I was excited and surprised because I didn't know I could do that," she said.

Valle doesn't consider herself a writer — she's more into sports — but she enjoyed being able to express herself freely in Choy's class. "In that class I could be myself," she said.

Waipahu Intermediate School seventh-grader Destin Cardona, front, and classmates take in a lesson in the English class taught by Joyce Choy, who says creative writing allows young people to open their hearts. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Her secret is establishing rapport when encouraging students to open their hearts in their writing. "I feel that writing is a really intimate thing," she said.

From there, Choy teaches students the basics of writing and gives them the opportunity to create on their own.

It hasn't been easy, though, as Choy points out: "Sometimes it feels like pulling teeth."

That's when she has them share their writing within the classroom, and maybe between different classes. To broaden the audience even more, Choy, an avid letter writer, encourages her students to submit letters to editors.

Choy had students enter the Starbucks Star Poets contest. None of her students won, but "they got really excited because they knew their work was going to be viewed by a different audience," not just their peers.