Summer is a time for swimming, sun-bathing and … writing?

Brigham Young University’s summer writing camps are teaching kids, teens and adults writing skills for life and fun. In collaboration with the Central Utah Writing Project (CUWP), BYU is offering nine classes this year. Students can register for creative prose, HTML code-writing, art-inspired writing, memoiring and more.

“Students and their parents have found the summer writing camps to be valuable — and fun — summer enrichment opportunities that help prevent the summer stagnation that might come from three months of little or no intellectual or creative opportunity,” said Chris Crowe, program director and author of “Death Coming Up the Hill.”

The camps have been running since 2012, and though some sessions seem to be staples, each year the teachers adapt, changing content and yearly authors for fresh curricula. According to Crowe, about 40 percent of the enrollment in the writing camps comes from out of state.

“It’s not a surprise that these camps have grown in popularity every summer,” Crowe said. “Experienced, creative teachers love the opportunity to teach small groups of motivated students. Students have thrived in the camp/workshop setting and have really loved the chance to stretch their writing talents.”

Occurring this week is a grammar course for junior high and high school students that was advertised as an atypical grammar class. Participants are focusing more on how to use punctuation and conventions to strengthen creative writing through sentence-combining and the less-commonly used colons, dashes and ellipses.

The class is taught by Sadie Rawlinson, a BYU graduate and language arts teacher in Jordan School District, and Chris Thompson, an English teacher in Nebo School District.

“This is the first time that we have done such a grammar-intensive camp,” Rawlinson said. “We have a couple of guest authors who will be talking about why grammar matters and what part it plays in the writing and publishing process.

“I’m excited to get into how grammar can be a springboard for writing ideas and creativity instead of something to dread.”

Thompson has found students’ interest levels high, which was a relief, since she didn’t know if a grammar class would be valued when she first pitched the idea. Fortunately for her, a “self-proclaimed grammar nerd,” the class filled quickly.

“Young writers associating with other young writers is the No. 1 reason for writing camps,” said Thompson, who was a CUWP Fellow in 2011. “It is satisfying to see them build a network and establish a writing community.

“I look forward to teaching students to view punctuation as a means of expression rather than a list of tricky restrictions — hence the name, Grammar Wings: Make Your Writing Soar.”

Rawlinson is also teaching two other camps this year. One is “Reel In Creativity: A Creative Writing Camp for Teens,” a week-long camp full of mini-campus field trips, visits to the BYU Museum of Art, a guest author and individual writing time.

The other is a non-fiction writing class, “Making Memories,” for adults interested in recording personal or family stories. She is co-teaching with Janae Shepherd, a CUWP Fellow and elementary school teacher. The camp will have a guest author, and students will have a chance to visit areas around campus that may trigger sensory details and evoke memories.

“It’s been gratifying to see the positive response to these writing camps, and the Central Utah Writing Project has enjoyed the chance to provide opportunities for experienced, well-trained, and creative teachers to work with motivated and talented students in small, one-week settings,” Crowe said. “It’s really been a win-win.”

The Authors Club will be using “Dead End in Norvelt” by Jack Gantos, the story of a boy grounded all summer, to help fifth- and sixth-graders develop ideas and teach them methods of hooking the reader. It is taught by Monique Fausett, a teacher in Wasatch School District, and Lindsey Harvey, who has a Master of Education degree from Southern Utah University.

To view the complete list of available courses, visit http://ce.byu.edu/cw/writing/.