Creative Writing and Book Club

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Andrea Paz Sepúlveda Guzmán, Staff Reporter

Have you ever wanted a place to get together with people and talk about books, maybe even to write a story yourself? If that’s the case, the Creative Writing and Book Club members will tell you that their club is your place to go.

“I’m not as much of a writer as most people in the club,” says Shubhika Grover (RHS 23), “So my favorite part is like the book club aspect, because I’ve discovered a few books that I really liked from … my sophomore year, which was 2020-2021. We read the Song of Achilles [by Madeline Miller], which was a book that I really liked.”
Shubhika Grover is the current club president of Creative Writing and Book Club. Grover sat down to answer questions about the club to bring more attention to what it has to offer and explain how the club works.

To some, the idea of a combination club can be a novel concept, but the way the club is structured works exactly as its members need it to. Every other week the club meets on blue Tuesdays, with the meetings alternating between writing and reading.

This configuration leaves a space of four weeks between every type of meeting, giving everyone ample time to write as well as finish reading the books that are chosen.

Members take the time to vote on the books they want to read, having fun with all the suggestions everyone makes. In addition to reading the books that they’ve chosen, they also work on their own writing to discuss during the creative writing meetings. This combination makes for a unique club environment, which club members have fun with no matter their preference for reading or writing. “We just alternate between meetings to like, have an equal mix of both of those kinds of meetings,” says Grover.

“The envionment is definitely not that serious … the atmosphere is a lot of fun and a lot of people don’t know each other yet.”

Members are encouraged to share writing that they’ve done recently, and share ideas for possible stories. Everyone builds on what the last person said, cultivating a sense of community and trust among members. “And then if we have, like, extra time on a book club meeting, because … the discussion ended early, and we chose another book really early, then we will just do some creative writing or some activities.”

The club’s creative writing activities include a variety of prompt generators, trope assignments, and games. One of the games they play is a game called “Circle Time” where each player takes turns saying a sentence, in a group attempt to create a story.

“Circle time … usually ends up being really chaotic, but it’s a lot of fun,” says Grover, “This year, I’m also planning on trying to do more, just like, days to write and maybe share so people can just like have a space to write with a bunch of fun people who enjoy the same thing …” All of these activities and plans for this year are what have members excited about the club.

Grover adds that it is still possible for people to join and that they want to encourage more students to join. “You’ll be perfectly fine if you’re new,” says Grover, “All you have to do is come to a meeting really, and it doesn’t matter if you go to every meeting … a lot of freshmen mostly get really stressed when they miss it … but like it doesn’t really make a difference. It’s for fun.”

If you are a student interested in writing or reading, this fun community on our campus encourages you to join them. Creative Writing and Book Club meets every blue Tuesday in classroom N3.