Writing in high school is inevitable. From outlines to essays and everything in between. With so many academic based writing assignments one may not have time to be creative in their independent writing. If this is the case then Creative Writing Club can help.

Once a week on Thursdays during Liberty Hour A, creative writing teacher Charles Zavos leads the club which has been a breath of fresh air for creative writers tired of following standard essay topics. The club is welcoming to all students and is always looking for new members.

“Students can join anytime. They just have to be willing and want to write and have a desire to write,” Zavos said.

Some may wonder what exactly to expect from joining the club.

“New members of the club could expect to find resources to bounce their ideas off of,” senior Ben Basney said. “Maybe talk to people about how they should write. After we finish writing the November writing this month we will probably present people with writing prompts for practicing writing”

The club is currently working on an assignment for November, which is called the National Novel Writing month. The assignment is given from the website nanowrimo.org and members can write for the compettion during club meetings or on their own time. The latest time to enter a novel is November 30.

“This website has a competition that no one wins so its not really a competition, but the idea is to write a 50,000 word novel between November 1 and November 30 to challenge young writers to get finished work out there,” Basney said. “You can get various things if you finish. I believe you get two copies of your book for free and you get an electronic publication of it so that is what we are doing right now to help people get their ideas out there”

Aside from novel writing, the club has a wide span of what they write about.

“There are a lot of kids in the club who like to write science fiction, fantasy type pieces. I have a couple strict poets in the club,” Zavos said. “There are also a few folks that are solely working on trying to create a publishable short story. So it varies and it always varies from year to year. I had a student a couple years ago that used this time to write a take off of one of those senior essays that they have to write about an interesting person that they would want to meet. They wrote it about meeting themselves in the future but they wrote it as a poem. I thought that was neat and kind of take off of what they were actually having to do writing for real life. It was a risk of something to step away from what a person would normally do and thats what creativity is in my view. Is to take a risk and try something that might blow up in your face and it might not. You don’t know until you try it.”

The risk of writing something for others to read may seem scary but being a part of a group could help one be more confident in their work. For the lone writer out there that may feel stuck in a rut of writers block, they may find the club inspiring and feel more a part of a group to fuel their writing.

     “I learned that there are a lot of people that like writing. I figured I was just one of a few people, but there are about a dozen people that are really serious about writing,” junior Tommy Roseman said.

Writing is a special reflection to the imaginations of creative writers and the genres they use to make their stories come to life.

“I like that you can do anything and there are no limits except for your imagination.” Roseman said. “I usually write really dark or humourous.”

Though preferred genres may or may not vary from each writer.

“I’ve started tons of stories about all kinds of stuff.” freshmen Andee Hall said.“I like writing fantasy a lot. Mostly alternate universe.”

Perhaps the greatest thing about the club is you don’t have to pursue a writing profession for it to help you in a future career.

“I have had students that have been in here that said ‘I want to be a writer’,” Zavos said. “I have had some folks in here that are very math and science oriented and will probably go off and do something with technology. Good writers are needed in any field. In the arts you need to be able to write well, in science, even mathematicians need to be able to write well. Hopefully this gives people the opportunity to find their voice. That is kind of key I think to high school in general is that students need to find their voice and how to articulate that voice to other people. This club is a small step towards that.”