top of page

We All Have Stories To Tell (Creative Writing)

Journalists

By: Ashlyn Martin


Bellarmine GSP’s Creative Writing class lives up to its name...creative. As soon as I walked into the class I ambushed by colorful writing displays decorating the walls. I took my place among the 19 scholars, eager to learn about the stories they had to tell.

I first learned the story of their guest speaker, Carolyn Clouss, a science fiction author. Carolyn is best known for her installment in the Star Trek series, “The Pandora Principle.” She gave the scholars advice on short fiction, the focus of that day’s class. She warned them that “short fiction is harder...much less forgiving,” however, she did not discourage scholars against it.  When talking about her own career in writing, she talked about the importance of being persistent. The process of publishing her Star Trek book was a very grueling one. Her final draft, which had even been approved, received 300 requests for edits. In order to publish that book she remained determined and wouldn’t quit, no matter how many times she was frustrated by the countless changes editors wanted to make to her book. From this experience, she learned something vital: “don’t write for other universes.” Lastly, she emphasized how important it is for writers to make a living outside of writing. When writing, the only distraction should be making a living. For some, this may seem daunting, but to those who are truly passionate about writing the dedication is worth it.


Frank Wared, the Creative Writing teacher shared his story as well. Frank graduated from U of L with a B.A in English and from Spalding with an M. A. T. After college, he was hired at Trinity High School in Louisville. It was there that he was inspired to pursue science fiction writing. He bonded with Trinity’s principal over his love of science fiction, so he was asked to put together a science fiction class. In order to prepare for the class, he read a wide variety of science fiction novels. Upon doing so, he realized, “I could do this.” That sparked the beginning of his interest in writing books. He explained how we wrote a lot throughout the 80s and 90s, when there was a market for the short sci fi pieces he was writing. His last piece was published in the 90s. He grew tired of the endless battles with editors that publishing his works entailed, but that hasn’t stopped him from writing. For now, his main focus is teaching. Frank’s philosophy is that, “If you really enjoy teaching you don’t have time to do something else.” Right now he characterizes himself as a “good writer and a great teacher.” Once he retires he intends to devote his attention to becoming a great writer.

The majority of class was focused on sharing previous stories; the rest of it was focused on beginning new ones. Creative Writing scholars were given eight minutes to create captivating hooks based on a picture. The picture featured a red box floating in a room. Ornate black shadows from the intricately decorated box, were cast onto the walls and floor. The picture was of an exhibit that was on display two years ago at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The hooks were then read out loud to the class. Most used mystery or horror to their advantage, leaving the class on the edge of their seats. Just from this short activity I was wowed by the ‘out of the box’ thinking of the 19 scholars around me.

Comments


Subscribe For Updates

Thanks for submitting!

Faculty

Unknown-1.jpeg

Jennifer Price grew up in Hopkins County, Kentucky and attended South Hopkins High School. She was a Governor’s Scholar at Murray State University in 1992, and was assigned the Social and Political Theory focus area. After high school, she attended Transylvania University and pursued a degree in Psychology. She finished her bachelor’s degree and then decided to complete graduate school at the University of Arkansas, where she received a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. She has been a member of the GSP faculty and staff for many years, ranging from 1994 to present. She has done every job available except be a focus area instructor. Jen was recently encouraged by her friends to begin running and even completed a half marathon last may. Jen is a wife to Pete, and a mother to two children, Jacob (15) and Eli (12).

Unknown.jpeg

Josh Woodward was a 1992 scholar at Murray State University. After completing undergraduate school at the University of Kentucky, Josh obtained a Masters in Water Resources from Minnesota and a Masters in Teaching from Cornell University. Outside of the program, Josh teaches a variety of science classes at Berea Community High School. When asked about his favorite part of the program, Josh responded with, “My favorite part is the notion that the five weeks is not really the program. It is everything after.” Nearly thirty years later, Josh and his fellow scholars are still close friends. 

Unknown.jpeg

Helen Heines grew up in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, which is in Bullitt County. She attended North Bullitt High School where she applied and was accepted to attend GSP at Murray State University in 2010. Upon graduation in 2011, she continued her education at Western Kentucky University with a degree in elementary education. Currently, Helen is a 5th grade social studies teacher in Louisville, and spends her summers deeply involved in the GSP community. She began working as a Resident Advisor (RA) at Bellarmine University in 2015. She began moving up the ranks to become head RA and then later she obtained the title of Assistant Campus Director, a title that she still holds. 

© 2019 by Bella's Journalists. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page