It started in fourth grade. Nine-year-old Quinn Suomala had always liked writing and acting out little short stories, excited to show off her creativity. It was when she was asked to write a narrative that her love of writing really took off. 

“It was my first time writing a longer story and showing it to other people,” said Suomala. “And I realized how good it felt to create characters and be able to write whatever you wanted, and have it affect and even help other people.” 

Now, seven years later, Quinn enjoys sharing that creativity with the members of Minnechaug’s Creative Writing Club, a place where students can gather and write powerful stories.

Originally started by Minnechaug graduate Andrew Aguilar, the Creative Writing Club offers many options in terms of writing. Students have the opportunity to explore various styles of writing, as well as explore different genres. 

“For the writing club we go through different themes every few meetings such as horror, poetry, vignettes, novel writing, and flash fiction,” said Suomala. “Sometimes we collaborate to make one large story and other times we work separately to write our own stories and then come back together to share and give feedback.”

As of right now, the club only has five members, as, according to Suomala, it has “been especially hard recruiting this year.” 

Among these five members is co-president Anthia Daubon, a junior here at Minnechaug who first joined in freshman year after inquiring about it at a football game. 

“Basically the story behind that was me and a friend, we were at a football game, and some of the clubs had tables for the freshmen,” said Daubon. “And Andrew, the founder of the club had a table and the vibes were great when we went to go talk to him.”

As their time in the club progressed, Daubon found herself enjoying the many discussions the club holds during meetings. She feels that it is a great way to relax, unwind, and talk to some really great people. 

“I mainly enjoy just getting to talk,” said Daubon. “I’m great friends with the longtime members of the writing club, so it’s nice to just relax and just talk about whatever we want.” 

When it comes to writing, this club is a great place to express yourself and your talent. Mr. O’Connor, the advisor of the Creative Writing Club, believes that this club is beneficial, not only because it gives you an audience, but also because it gives you the opportunity to grow as a writer, and build a sense of community between a group of people. 

“One thing that a writing group does is that it gives you like a built-in audience, and suddenly you can see how your writing is actually working in a reader’s mind,” said O’Connor. “Writers spend a lot of time in their own minds, especially fiction writers, so creating a community of writers and using that community to sort of get out and away from your laptop to talk to people, it’s helpful on so many different levels.”

If you enjoy writing, making friends, and interested in becoming a part of a great community, then the Creative Writing Club is the place to go. If you are interested in joining, you can email [email protected] or [email protected]. 

After all, in the words of Anthia Daubon, “You can’t knock it till you try it!”