One Word At a Time
Creative Writing opens doors to motivated storytellers
Creative Writing students, senior Helen Casadiego Colmenarez and junior Claire Hunt type away while taking notes on what makes a great story to enhance future work. “Just being in a class with others who share the same interest in writing, I feel that I’ve improved my writing style through listening to their stories,” Hunt said. “It’s a very engaging class that forces me to think of new ideas and expand my capability of writing beyond its comfort zone.” The course is urged for those who are looking for an artistic outlet on campus.
With only three elective spots and countless course options, deciding which classes to take can be quite challenging. However, for aspiring writers and innovative students, Creative Writing may be a class to consider taking.
“Writing and creating fictional worlds and stories has always been a passion of mine,” junior Christian Scoggins said. “I saw this class as the perfect opportunity to improve my skills in this department.”
The course centers around the principles of imaginative writing as well as producing original work. Stylistic techniques such as developing literary devices and sentence structure are also taught to help students enhance their writing.
“We’ve learned about the elements that make up a story and its characters, how to properly describe scenes, environments, and write compelling dialogue,” Scoggins said. “These all work together to help us improve our writing overall and become better writers.”
With an emphasis on storytelling, major grades typically consist of assembling a piece based on aspects of writing learned previously. Although projects must consist of specific criteria, they still allow room for plenty of inventive freedom. Examples of major grades include a chase story, a quest, and a winter wonderland holiday piece.
“My favorite major grade was the quest. We had to write a story that followed the quest outline, where a protagonist journeys to unknown lands in search of something,” Scoggins said. “It really helped me delve into and explore my worlds and characters and tell part of a story that I’ve been wanting to tell for years.”
Creative Writing provides an expressive outlet to students and introduces them to a safe atmosphere where they can share personal work without feeling criticized.
“I enjoy the people and environment because it makes you feel comfortable enough to learn without being judged.” junior Sabaa Tabanjah said.
With course selection in full swing, teacher Kristine Munger urges interested students to contact her at [email protected] with any questions and to consider taking the Creative Writing class during the upcoming school year.
“I would love to have many students sign up for Creative Writing to experience a different learning environment where writing is fun and based on progress, not perfection,” Munger said. “It is only taught one period a day, so sign up early to attain a spot and have your friends sign up to be in the class with you.”
