Writers see world through new eyes
Striving to find the right word, phrase or character, little known artists on USU’s campus live a life full of observation and discovery. They see the world with different eyes, heeding the unnoticed and giving it voice. These artists are writers dedicated to creating beauty out of the world around them. Their tools are words framed on pages and bound together in context. They are creative writers.
At USU, many of these artists are English majors emphasizing in creative writing. This year, many of them started a club to help bring their work to life.
Jennifer Sinor, the English department creative writing chair and club adviser, said the new club was created to replace the capstone classes that used to supplement the English curriculum. With the project, students have begun to learn how to submit manuscripts and listen to panels of professionals explain “the writer’s life.”
“(Students) would identify things that they hadn’t learned in their time as English majors with creative writing emphases, and then we would create panels that would fill those holes for them,” Sinor said.
Sinor said after budget and staffing cuts, there was no longer faculty to staff certain classes, which were consequently removed from the creative writing curriculum.
“I felt like that it was a real lose for students,” she said, “so when we talked in the creative writing curriculum committee, we thought we could create a club that could take the place of that class in some ways.”
“I didn’t have room in my schedule to take writing courses this semester so I wanted to have something that would make me write for this semester,” said Anna-Maria Arnljots, a senior English major and club member. “I need something to actually motivate me to do it.”
She said she feels the creative writing club is the perfect place to help her get more in involved in her major.
“It’s helped me to understand what possibilities are within my major that I wouldn’t have realized before without talking to the people that know more than me or who’ve been at it longer than me,” Arnljots said.
Tessa Ryser, a senior who is also an English major and club member, said the club helps keep her program connected.
“I like being in touch with the other creative writing majors,” she said. “When you’re in your classes you don’t always know who is your emphasis and who’s not, so it’s nice to know who is who.”
Ryser also said having friends in a major is important and the club will be a place to foster friendships.
“It really helps with enthusiasm when you have someone else to talk to about it and someone else that is equally passionate about it as you.”
Ryser said at the club’s first meeting members made three goals. The first one was to create panels of published authors and agents to come talk about getting published.
“We get so much workshop kind of feed back but not much practical, ‘How do I get into the field?’ type of advice,” Ryser said.
The second goal was to put together creative writing workshops for feedback on member’s writing, she said. Finally, club members compiled an extensive list of books of creative writers — instructional and ones that are in each student’s genre.
“Right now the club was created for creative writing majors and really was organized with the purpose of giving a place for our English students to come,” Sinor said. Those who are in the creative writing emphasis, American study students doing creative writing and liberal arts majors are welcome to join the club, she added.
“I suppose if a student was demonstrably committed to writing and the writing life, they had taken it under serious study — even if they weren’t a major — then they would be welcome to come too,” Sinor said.
She said she feels that by participating in the club students will be able to get involved in the writing community.
“I tell my students that you have to learn to see the world through a writer’s eyes,” Sinor said. “The only way you can do that is if you are constantly writing and thinking about writing, and as soon as you immerse yourself in that world, you see the world as a writer would see it. But to get there I think you have to surround yourself with other writers, you have to surround yourself with great writing, and you have to commit to it.”
– karlee.ulrich@aggiemail.usu.edu