Looking for some writing motivation? See what winners from Scholastic's Art & Writing Awards have to say about writing habits, ideas, and inspiration.

What inspires me to write more than anything else is reading good literature. When I read something that is absolutely fabulous, I am challenged to respond to that. Nothing encourages me to create like being excited by someone else’s work.
—Hallie Rundle, 18, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, New Orleans, LA

I will always write poetry, probably at 2 a.m. while eating microwave popcorn and mumbling to myself in order to count syllables. Poetry will always be something I do for its own sake.
—Alexandra Marraccini, 16, Maritime and Science Technology High School, Miami, FL

My cultural background inspires me to write. I want to break the boundary that says, “Asians are very orthodox.” My writing longs to be unique and a bit odd.
—Florence Ling, 13, H.B. Dupont Middle School, Hockessin, DE

Perhaps the ideas I present are not mind-blowing or innovative, but they are true to my heart. They are things that I have come to learn about others and myself.
—Amy Kaufman, 17, Milton Academy, Milton, MA

I want to contribute to the great literary tradition and, thereby, to the immutable yearning of humanity for words and the definition of experience. Writing is such a part of my fiber that I don’t expect it to ever take a backseat in my life.
—Andrew Chan, 17, Providence Senior High School, Charlotte, NC

Los Angeles is the biggest inspiration to my writing and creative thinking. There is so much to know about social status, stereotypes, and other quirks native to L.A. that gives me a great deal to infuse into my stories.
—Ali Pechman, 14, Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles, CA

Behind every place I encounter and every person I pass and meet, there is some story, true or created, that deserves to be shared. My goal is to try to weave together all that I know and have learned to create something that’s worth reading.
—Kyle Casser, 14, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ

If I weren’t always on my own case to write and to continually edit, vivisect and reconstruct old works, I wouldn’t write as much as I do now. If literature didn’t play a major role in my life, I’d just be shiftless and unfocused.
—Bennett Sims, 17, Catholic High School, Baton Rouge, LA

Inspiration comes from absolutely everything when writing runs through your very veins. A drop of rain hitting a leaf reminds me of a tear trailing down a woman’s cheek; a car horn, of some great beast calling in the night. Every grain of sand on the beach has a separate story, and that is how I view the world around me.
—Matisse Fletcher, 15, Stanwood High School, Stanwood, WA