COEUR d'ALENE - Skyway Elementary students entered the "author zone" on Thursday.

Author Gary Hogg took them to that quiet place to gather their thoughts to write a story during the final day of the school's writing festival.

"With your eyes closed, think of a first sentence that describes an experience you've had," Hogg told second-graders in teacher Scott Busch's class.

Hogg deployed his "thinking machine" and played soothing sounds to help students reach the author zone.

"Think of specific details to grab the reader's attention," he told the kids, with their eyes still closed.

After a few minutes in the zone, students jotted down thoughts they had developed.

Student Gabe Nelson shared with the class his experience of waiting in line in the "burning-hot" sun to ride the Tremors roller coaster at Silverwood Theme Park.

Hogg, a humorist and storyteller, said it was an excellent start to a story, and helped Gabe take it to another level.

Gabe then used "caring" as an adjective to describe his mom, who endured the heat with him in the ride's line. And "awesome" was plugged in to describe the rides.

Rather than using simply Silverwood to describe the place, Nelson added that it is an amusement park for readers who don't know the type of business it is.

"You know what Silverwood is, but some of your readers may not," Hogg told Gabe.

Writing, Hogg told the students, is a work in progress and revisions are often needed to make stories better. Start with a thought, he said, then expand on that. Avoid simply listing a series of events.

Carol Muzik, who wrote a children's book and the true story of "Raising Lucy," an orphaned baby goose, also helped students sharpen their writing skills during the festival.

At the end of the day, students' stories were read during an assembly in the gym. The authors offered feedback.

In the evening, the stories were shared with families.

Writing is an emphasis at Skyway throughout the school year, and most of the student work is published.

Dianne Howard, a fourth-grade teacher who is the chairwoman of the school's writing committee, said writing helps boost reading scores and improves grammar.

"It's amazing watching the kids gain a love for writing," Howard said. "We try to make writing comfortable, so there's not a lot of moaning and groaning. We encourage them to put their voice in writing."