Article by Olivia Simonson
On Wednesday nights, Atwood hosts a variety of events, but one hidden gem meets in the basement from 5-7. The Writer’s Club is a student organization that focuses on the art of creative writing. The group sets up a variety of activities meant to help those in attendance to write without the restrictions of a regular writing environment.
“We’re one of the big creative, and I guess arts, left on campus, to some degree,” said Lucas Dejarlais, vice president for the Writer’s Club, “it’s an important thing to keep around, the ability to express yourself. There’s this growing stigma to being creative.”
The group does writing exercises, which encourage a writer to put words on a page without the expectation of it being coherent or good. The exercises are often silly and meant to inspire stories, helping students fight past writer’s block. The Writer’s club is also looking to host workshops, where students can bring in an already written piece and receive feedback on it.
“We’re looking to alternate weeks – one week a writing exercise, the next a workshop. We’re still putting them together, but we’re hoping to start that next week,” said Dejarlais.
While the club is geared towards those in English and Creative Writing disciplines, students of any major can join, whether they have creative writing experience or not. The group is also open to different types of writing, not just novel style writing.
“We have a lot of fiction work brought in, but every once in a while, someone will bring in a poetry piece to analyze and to workshop. We haven’t had any nonfiction, but we are open if someone wants to bring that in.”
The activity for Wednesday, Sept. 24 was a character-building activity, where members developed characteristics for a character and another person had to write out actions for how that characteristic would manifest itself. The activity didn’t require any prior experience and was a way for new members to get their feet wet when it comes to creative writing.
“I’d recommend [creative writing] for almost anyone to try. You get out of it what you put in, and it’s a worthwhile practice in and of itself.”
The next meeting will be held on Oct. 1 in the basement of Atwood and will be a workshop session, open for anyone to attend.
Recent Comments