Eight students who excelled in a statewide, middle school creative writing tournament discussed their relationships with writing. Students' interview transcripts were analyzed for references to positive and negative teacher influences. Students needed teachers who provided structured writing time and clear deadlines, valued the message of the work more than the format, used books as models, developed a sense of community, gave constructive feedback, honored students' personal writing goals, specifically assessed creativity, and recognized that sometimes writing was therapeutic rather than productive.