by Cara Hudson, student editor of MC’s soon-to-be-named Creative Arts Journal.
My first experience with creative writing was in fifth grade, when Mrs. Miller required us to write outlandish stories every day for our scrapbooks. We would walk into class each morning and find some ridiculous prompt on the board. Our first task of the day might be to imagine an encounter with a monstrous insect, or to go outside and write a haiku about the first orange thing that we saw. At the end of the year, our teacher put all of our writings into a scrapbook and gave them to ourparents. My mom still has mine. Until that class, I was convinced I wanted to be a visual artist. I loved to draw and paint, and I was always doodling on my homework. I enjoyed reading, and I did well in my English classes, but it was not until I realized the artistic nature of words that I decided I wanted to be a writer.
I kept a journal throughout grade school and high school, but it very rarely contained fiction, and I gave it up when I came to college. With all of my other commitments, I did not have extra time to devote to “pleasure writing.” My next real encounter with creative writing was when I took Kerri Snell’s Creative Writing course during my sophomore year of college. There, I realized my passion for poetry. I learned to appreciate the artistic freedom that poetry offered, and the unique power of word structure on a page. I learned the benefits of both poetry and prose, and the different effects that each can have on an audience. I learned that creative writing, just like any other kind of writing, takes meticulous work and consideration to be effective.
Despite the many stereotypes, writers are not only productive when they are sitting, lonely, in the corners of coffee shops. Creativity and artistic thinking are not meant to be attempted alone. This is why I am so excited about MC Writes. There is a certain vulnerability that comes with sharing one’s inner thoughts, and I think we could all use some practice being vulnerable. I hope that this club will strengthen and encourage young writers to share their knowledge about the world and support each other in their creative endeavors.