Author: SOTA Creative Writing
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Creative writing taught me how to notice. How to sit with a line or even a single word long enough to understand what it’s really trying to say. How to recognize when something feels off, even if I can’t name it yet. I used to think writing was about expressing what you already know. Now…
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In Creative Writing, most of our time is spent analyzing, generating, or editing writing of our own or our classmates. Through in-class prompts and external assignments, we are creating almost daily. To be surrounded by such a flourishing community of writers and in an environment that pushes both your creativity and capacity is nothing short…
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The annex! A magical place filled with the fervent creation of stories and a lot of groaning & banging your head on the wall. Every Wednesday, since my first day in Creative Writing over three years ago, the elderly senior class would lock themselves into the annex to work on their theses. Even as a…
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When I first joined the Creative Writing department, it was halfway through the school year. Right in the middle of everything. I was so lost and out of rhythm. Everyone knew what they were doing, everyone had a route. Everyone already had their buddy, and I did not. At first, I did not really feel…
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As a freshman in Creative Writing, I can already tell you that field trips and wondrous days with your classmates will be some of the most memorable moments you make at SOTA. To mark the end of community weeks this year, CW took our annual trip to Aquatic Park. After everyone had changed into their…
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I enter the room with the big door saying Creative Writing. Emily says welcome to everybody but I have my ears blocked so I don’t hear anything, and a big fog is coming over me despite the fact that there’s sun. So, I sit at the nearest table. Nope, wrong place, so I sit at…
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Year after year, Creative Writing’s Community Weeks culminate in a camping trip to Kirby Cove. Freshman year, the upperclassmen spoke so fondly of the trip that I was more than eager to experience it for myself. And of course, Kirby didn’t disappoint. The sense of community, the stories around the campfire, and the view of…
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If you had told me a week before Spirit Day that I would be cheering on a hamster ball fight between our director, Emily, and one of our seniors, clad head to toe in my least favorite color and essentially drowning in body glitter, I would have never believed you. Yet, that is exactly what…
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One of the most helpful parts of being in the Creative Writing department is the buddy collaboration program. At the beginning of the year, everyone gets paired with someone else, often a senior with a younger student. It’s designed mostly for freshmen, since coming into a new department can feel overwhelming, and having someone older…
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We started a new tradition in Creative Writing this year, and to be quite honest I wasn’t so sure of it at first. When you reach a certain grade in CW we have to complete a certain project that challenges us and teaches something new to the class. Freshman year: Figure out what the hell…
