Late this past fall, we started our first ever middle/high school writer’s club at Liberty Christian School. After returning from an IWP meeting energized with this new idea, I began to inquire with several of my students if they would be interested in being part of a writing club. After a week or so of asking about student interests, I realized there was a need, so I set the first date. Our first Writer’s Club date was Thursday, October 28.
With more than a little trepidation, I anticipated our first meeting. I had no idea how many
would attend or who. I wasn’t exactly sure of the flow and pace I wanted for the meetings. I spent a lot of time wondering how, what, who, etc… As the newbie’s began to file into the room, they seemed as unsure of the event as I was. Once we started, all was right. Stressing the need to connect our reading to our writing, we started off our first discussion with; what are we reading? This was a fun time for all of us to share and connect with each other’s reading habits. Now, we start every meeting with this question. Sometimes students bring the books they are reading with them and sometimes they don’t, but either way, they love hearing about each other’s reading interests, including my own.
Once we have shared our current reading territories, I usually lead the discussion into writer’s habits, writing habits, genre discussions, writing observations, etc… The discussion usually is determined by what I observe in a writing group or something I think about my own writing through the week. I usually start the discussion with an observation and a question. For example; I have heard that writer’s have what is called writing environments. I enjoy writing with soft music, a keyboard, and little distraction. What about you? This usually gets students started. But, if I am hearing crickets because they are not responding, I break it down further, like: “Do you like to write with or without noise?”
Our discussions are informal, noisy, fun and informative. We learn a lot about each other, about writing and writers in general. Some discussions are more colorful than others, but all seem to send us into thinking mode. After our discussions, we spend a chunk of time writing–30-50 minutes. The last 30 minutes of our time together, the students circle up the desks and we share. Sharing our pieces is voluntary. We do not usually critique, but I have thought about adding that component more recently.
Our average attendance is about 15 kids, ranging from 7th-11th grade. We were meeting every other week, but now we meet weekly. At first we were meeting from 2:45-4:00, but we kept running over, so now our meeting time is 2:45-4:30. About a month or so ago, we came up with our club’s official title, The Typos.
We have had an author, Deborah Zarka Miller, visit our group. She has written several books, but just recently published her first young adult book, A Star for Robbins Chapel. We asked her questions about publishing, writing as a career, her favorite writing environment, her favorite writing genre, etc… We have several in our club who are aspiring writers, so this was a lot of fun and very informative for them. Next week, the chief editor of The Herald Bulletin, Scott Underwood (husband of IWP TC ’07 Tammy Underwood) will be attending our writer’s club. We have already written our questions in anticipation of his appearance.
After attending our ISI 2010 Reunion meeting last week, I came back with several ideas to apply to our club and for its future. I will keep you posted on our club’s development and events. The Typos Writers’ Club was so easy to implement and is easily one of the highlights of my week. I highly encourage you to initiate your own writer’s club.
Submitted by Jeri Tarvin, TC ‘10
