Ashley Shelby loves to write, but something she loves just as much is teaching and coaching others on their writing projects.

Shelby, a local author and former Penguin Books acquisitions editor, launched the Mill City Writers' Workshop last month at 6 Sixth Ave. N. in Hopkins.

Shelby, the daughter of WCCO news anchor Don Shelby, grew up in Hopkins. She lived in New York for eight years, where she worked at Penguin.

She is also a published author herself. Her book, "Red River Rising: The Anatomy of a Flood and the Survival of an American City," about the catastrophic floods in the Red River Valley in the winter of 1997, was published in 2004.

Shelby moved back to Hopkins two years ago and decided to open a writers' workshop. She said that when you are writing your own material, you don't get the rewarding payoff until you are finished, which tends to take a long time.

"Teaching is an instant reward," she said. "I love that instant gratification."

Shelby said there was no shortage of writers' workshops in New York, but there were only a few in the Twin Cities. One, The Loft - located in downtown Minneapolis - does good work, she said, but class sizes are often larger than 20, so there is less individualized attention for writers.

"I feel I can fulfill that need at my workshop," she said.

Mill City Writers' Workshop offers programs and seminars at all skill levels. The core element of the program is the Workshop, in which writers can have their work read and critiqued by fellow students and the teacher.

"We serve people who want to write," Shelby said. "People working on books - people who want to work on books. I want to have opportunities for the whole spectrum of writers."

Shelby teaches the workshops and she plans to offer monthly seminars by local writers. City Pages food writer James Norton will teach a seminar on food writing May 3. Shelby hopes also to offer a seminar featuring her father at some point in the future.

Mill City offers classes for beginning writers, memoir writers, those interested in getting their books published, and high school seniors who want to prepare for college-level writing. More workshops and seminars will be added this summer.

The workshop's classes have been serving between four and eight students thus far.

"I want them to stay that size," Shelby said. "When they're bigger it's harder to give them individualized instruction."

She said Minneapolis is a great writing city and the market could handle another writers' workshop. She is happy to open her business in her hometown of Hopkins.

"I came back and I was shocked," she said. "It looked amazing. Mainstreet is totally revitalized."

Though Shelby will be busy with the writers' workshop, she plans to continue her writing career as well.

"It does give me the flexibility and time to work on my own writing," she said. "I think both can co-exist."

For more information on the Mill City Writers' Workshop, call 718-909-6217 or go to www.millcitywriters.com.

Comment on this story at our website, www.mnsun.com.

The workshop's classes have been serving between four and eight students thus far.

"I want them to stay that size," Shelby said. "When they're bigger it's harder to give them individualized instruction."

She said Minneapolis is a great writing city and the market could handle another writers' workshop. She is happy to open her business in her hometown of Hopkins.

"I came back and I was shocked," she said. "It looked amazing. Mainstreet is totally revitalized."

Though Shelby will be busy with the writers' workshop, she plans to continue her writing career as well.

"It does give me the flexibility and time to work on my own writing," she said. "I think both can co-exist."

For more information on the Mill City Writers' Workshop, call 718-909-6217 or go to www.millcitywriters.com.

Comment on this story at our website, www.mnsun.com.