When literacy specialist Jennifer Allen agreed to meet weekly with five boys who wanted to share their out-of-school writing with her, the weekly all-boys lunch-time writing group was born at Albert S. Hall elementary school in Waterville, Maine. She had intended to run the group as a writers' workshop and teach mini-lessons. But from the beginning the boys created their own structure for the group and their own acceptable behaviors, including talking over one another and writing even while another writer was sharing his work aloud. The boys have continued to be enthusiastic writers; at their urging the group has continued for two years. Allen contrasts the boys' behaviors with the norms she has experienced in all-girls writing groups. She relates her experience writing with boys to the literature on boys and learning.