By: Sarah Williams
Every Monday from 4- 5:30 pm in room SDH224, the creative writing club CreativiTEA meets. Every student is welcome to join and share something that they have written with the club.
Members are not required to bring something, however. They can come just to listen, but are encouraged to share something eventually. The club accepts short stories, poems, film scripts, nonfiction pieces, and more. The only requirement is that it is limited to 4-7 pages. After reading a copy of the story, members provide feedback on the story’s highlights and potential areas to grow.
Communication professor Wallis Metts created the club recently. He was asked to teach fiction and nonfiction writing classes this semester. Students that were interested in writing but weren’t in any writing classes had no place to share their work.
“There was a need…I decided we will meet and see how it goes.”
Metts
The club’s name, CreativiTEA, comes from Metts’ love of tea. At meetings, he will have a kettle of hot tea, sugar cubes, and cups for the members.
The goal of CreativiTEA is to encourage students to write more and improve their writing skills. Metts said one of the ways the club does so is by giving the members a deadline. Once there is an expectation, it is easier to write.
Professor Gwen Hersha is also a member. She said the club is beneficial to students because it provides a place to share ideas with others. It also gives members different perspectives on their pieces.
Another goal of the club is to eventually share their works with the public. Metts said that he is thinking about publishing some of the pieces online or having a public reading in the future.
According to Metts, a key to a good story is knowing the beginning, middle, and end, with the ending being the most important. The story is a contract to the audience and the writer must conclude something or wrap up the loose ends. Having an ending in mind also keeps the story focused. The ending must complete the experience, or it breaks that contract.
Anyone who wishes to join CreativiTEA can show up at 4pm in SDH224 on Mondays. If they wish to share a piece, they should email Professor Metts beforehand so that he can make copies for everyone.
