Although the thought of a group of people reading and evaluating personal writing pieces would seem unpleasant, it is honestly a better experience. One that needs to occur in the walls of West Fargo High School. Imagine this situation instead as a place where like-minded individuals gather to take their writing abilities to another level of creativity and uniqueness.
In theory, this writing group would be primarily student-driven along with teacher advisory (and when asked Toni Nelson, English teacher, showed a keen interest and excitement for this idea). Students would decide upon what style of writing would be expected of each member as well as deadlines for each piece. For example: the first week could be dedicated to poetry or short prose to get a feel of who everyone is and what their writing personas are like. From there, different meeting locations and writing activities could be agreed upon to keep everyone interested and inspired, with of course there being at least one monthly meeting here at West Fargo High after school.
For many young writers, writing is a passion they wish to pursue in the near future, and the actual act of writing often occurs in spastic random bouts based on the ever unreliable “inspiration.” Having a writers group would aid in giving aspiring authors more structure in these early moments of their career. The clearest initial benefit of a school- based writers group would be simply connecting with other writers along with the possibility of publishing.
Certainly, it is always enjoyable to see personal work in an official place where the public may read and enjoy it as well. This could be achieved with the granting of web space by the administration to post the work of the group. Then members would certainly have all that more incentive to work hard at honing their skills, since there would be a great chance those in the area could view it as well.
Personally, the thought of meeting and working alongside new people who are also interested in writing careers is one that is both brilliant and even a tad scary. Scary because often times these may be the hardest people to please since they are almost guaranteed to point out mistakes in personal works, but great because as a writer those mistakes need to be made note of.
Further benefits would include the advancement of work from the members; as well as the greater confidence in their ability to produce satisfactory work on a certain deadline. From my own experience at writer workshops, I can say firsthand these are definitely gains that students can walk away with. Being held accountable for work by a group of people is a sure-fire way to at least attempt at writing daily. By having this group, participators are bound to view work with different eyes since there are others already doing so.
Over the course of a few weeks, a writers group would most likely go from being a bit awkward and timid to being a place where members would surely receive feedback and notes on work that mean a lot to them. Having this group is necessary for West Fargo High School because it will definitely open up students to the workshop environment. This kind of early exposure is necessary early on in the trek towards the title of author, editor, journalist, or simply: writer.