It was a dark and stormy afternoon.
There are endless possibilities of ways to rewrite that phrase, according to Stella Thé, the president of the Creative Writing Club and a junior in the School of Public Affairs. In the Creating Writing Club, students gather to write from different prompts to channel their creativity in a stress-free environment.
With a different theme for each meeting, the club curates prompts for members to approach writing from an unique frame of mind. Not only does this allow members to practice creativity, but it also allows them to learn lessons like the importance of word choice, according to Charlotte Van Schaack, the club’s vice president of outreach and a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
For example, members “wrote with limitations,” during one meeting. Prompts were pulled out of a hat, such as writing a palindrome poem — a poem that reads the same forward and backward. Students do not need to know these technical terms to join the club.
“We want to create a space for people who aren't as involved in that kind of creative writing, but it also is for people who are very involved because we do provide exercises,” Thé said. “We try to cater towards different writing techniques.”
Dan Frias, the club’s vice president of operations and a sophomore in CAS, helped to come up with prompts such as “write with the essence of the rat without the presence of a rat,” which sparked comedy writing.
“It's to just be this really positive, creative space where folks can just come in, write some nonsense and have fun with a cool prompt,” Frias said.
Members also collaborate on their writing, whether it be writing a story where each member writes a different sentence or coming up with prompts together. During one meeting, members read paragraphs, summarized them in a sentence and then someone else would expand that sentence into a story, according to Van Schaack.
“I just enjoy it as a space where I can think about writing in ways that I've never considered before, because of the different perspectives that different people have and the different life experiences in creative writing or other types of writing is all beneficial,” Van Schaack said.
For students who want critique for their work, the club is planning to host a workshop later this semester. Participants will be able to submit their work whether it be prose or poetry. It is more beneficial when participants want their work to be critiqued and give feedback to others, according to Van Schaack.
Thé also plans to put a little free library on the quad. A little free library is a mailbox full of books for students to exchange. Through this book exchange, Thé said she wants to “bring community” to AU.
Creative Writing Club meets every Monday from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Battelle-Tompkins Building. Outside of their projects and events, the club has a different theme for each meeting, challenging writers to think outside the box.
“It's very, very open,” Frias said. “People show up and have a good time.”
This article was edited by Hannah Langenfeld, Kylie Bill and Nina Heller. Copy editing done by Isabelle Kravis, Stella Guzik and Sophia Rocha.
