Welcome to My World stems from the belief that all student writers are capable of creating memorable written work. By focusing on subjects that most student writers in late adolescence or early adulthood will find interesting centering on people, places, times, values, and passions the authors of Welcome to My World aim to help novice writers feel a sense of personal connection and genuine motivation that are the basis of all good writing. To this end, Welcome to My World is filled with ideas, language, and activities gleaned from writing workshops, from informal writing groups, and from years of experience as writers and as teachers. The book provides writing topics and suggested readings on family, home, generational issues, ethics, technology, the environment, and other contemporary issues that can draw on and be connected to courses of study and individual interests in any subject. It includes sequenced assignments that lead from quickwrites to polished pieces incorporating different kinds of research and that invite students to write traditional academic essays, creative pieces, or hybrid genres incorporating academic themes within creative genres such as poetry, creative nonfiction, and drama. Academic and creative pieces by published writers, including the authors own work, and by several student writers are included as examples and models for the writing assignments.