Published: November 21, 2008 09:36 pm            

Students join creative writing club at MVTHS

By VANESSA WELCH

vanessa.welch@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Imagine an informal setting where students are able to share ideas without judgment from peers or uncomfortable silence.

The creative writing club at Mt. Vernon Township High School offers this environment to students who wish to express themselves. English teacher and co-sponsor Jeremy Mays said all types of writers from novelists to songwriters are encouraged to join.

“We have some people who write including poets, short story writers and novelists,” Mays said. “Some people come in to read, respond and critique, and songwriters bring in guitars to play.”

Although sharing personal thoughts can be intimidating, Mays said those who join are able to practice their communication skills while improving as writers.

“The hardest part of being a writer is opening up,” Mays said. “Students are apprehensive about sharing with other students. The club allows them to open up and break barriers of being shy. It also helps them in English and other classes, and makes them accountable as well.”

Senior Kelsey Knott said she appreciates the opportunity to share her poems and novels with other students who relate to one another.

“It’s really the only club around the school campus where you can be creative,” Knott said. “In class you’re usually with people who don’t have the same passions as you do. So here people get it and it makes you feel more comfortable to read.”

By interacting with other members, junior Kat Bullock said classmates inspire her and help with brainstorming sessions.

“Once I wrote a story about a superhero named Estrogen Man,” Bullock said. “I was sharing it with a guy, and he mentioned I should add a Chihuahua named Gertrude as his sidekick. We take from a topic or add to it. The club is a giant melting pot of ideas.”

Bullock and senior Colton Burge said inspiration comes from personal dreams to daily routines, and both members agreed there is a wide array of topics to pull from.

“I write a lot of poetry and stories about random stuff that pops in my head,” Bullock said. “I also write down stories from my dreams.”

“Typically I write songs, poems and every once in a great while I’ll do a short story or prose,” Burge said. “I like more abstract things — anything from what happens in my daily life to things I come up with in the shower. I’m going to invest in a waterproof notebook.”

Currently the club holds two writing contests open to all high school students each year that are named after MVTHS alumni Brian Hodge and Sean Tolley. In October, entries were submitted for a horror story contest, and Mays said winners will be announced this month. In April 2009 a second contest will be held for writing poetry, short stories and screen plays. Submitted entries in each contest are professionally critiqued, and Mays said students have an opportunity to win money and signed books as prizes.

This month a few students are also participating in National Novel Writing Month in which authors attempt to write a 175-page novel by Nov. 30. According to information from the organization, focusing on output forces writers to lower expectations and take risks.

The next creative writing club meeting will be held from 11:25 a.m. to 12 p.m. Nov. 21 in room 123G. For more information on joining the organization or future events contact Mays at 246-5704, or English teacher and co-sponsor Brandon Martin at 246-5705.

        

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