We all know that at SHA, there is never a time when we aren’t writing. Whether it’s writing an essay for English, an essay for history class, or even notes in math. But what that writing has in common, is the fact that all of it is analytical. So what about creative writing? Well, thanks to the new Creative Writing club at SHA, students who have a love for writing, or even students who want to write, and have never done it before, now have a place to share their ideas, and an opportunity to display their creativity with their words. It all started when seniors Alex Van Gelder and Regina Saravia, who are fans of creative writing, noticed that there wasn’t really a place for students to share their ideas or express themselves when it came to writing. So as a solution, they created their own club with the hopes of inspiring and encouraging others with their own writing journey.

The first meeting took place on September 12^th, and during that meeting, everyone got to know each other. There were lots of snacks, like Fruit Roll-Ups and bags of chips, that were extremely delicious. As a way to get the creative juices flowing, the members played a game where they each took a piece of paper, created the beginning of a story with just one sentence, and passed their paper to the next person. The person who now had someone else’s paper, had to add onto the beginning of the story on the second line, except this time, the top of the paper had to be folded so that no one could read the very beginning. The paper was then passed and folded again, and again, and again, until finally, there were several papers, each with different sentences, that came together to form a story that wasn’t supposed to make any sense. The resulting stories ended up being hilarious, and at one point, a sentence in the first story was so funny, that it was impossible for Regina to read it without laughing. After all the stories were read, everyone was in tears from laughing. The next couple of meetings involved members fleshing out their characters with the help of character charts and developing the plots of their stories with an organizer.

In addition to helping students create their own stories, the Creative Writing club focuses on specific aspects of creative writing every month. For example, for one month, the club focuses on mythology, and during another, members learn about screenwriting and movie scripts. There is also a period dedicated to poetry. Every month is something new, so the members will be able to experiment with different genres and show off their creativity even more. The Creative Writing club also goes hand in hand with PRISM, SHA’s literature and art magazine. Since both clubs are all about creativity, members are strongly encouraged to create their own submissions for PRISM. The club as a whole actually has something to submit for PRISM, which is the story from the activity at the first meeting that left everyone laughing in tears, so be sure to look for it when PRISM publishes their magazine. Towards the end of the year, the final activity that the club partakes in, is a field trip to a café, where people can work on their stories, and have a good time. And with a creative writing club now established at SHA, many students this year, and hopefully many students in the future, will finally be able to do what they love, while having fun, and receiving support from fellow authors.