Clubs are largely encouraged in high schools around the world, not just Bob Jones, which may be part of the reason we have so many here. We have film and animation, language clubs, sports teams, and more, but some clubs are much less prominent than others. Here, we’re taking an inside look at a club that at least 30% of the student body is oblivious to, the Writing Club.

Writing club meets every Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:00 and has a very chill and friendly atmosphere. There’s no real pressure to write anything specific or share if you don’t want to, but of course, the club has themes and different focuses, the past one being fairy tales. There’s encouragement for members to have fun with their work and be creative, and to regularly socialize and take advice from one another.

Lily Hughes manages the club with her assistant, Maggie Brown. Each meeting, they take the club through a warm-up or learning activity before letting the members loose to write. They all encourage communication and peer feedback, and have been teaching the club how to peer edit properly so that they can help others improve their writing.

The club meets at the same time and place as the film and animation club, which means there are many chances to collaborate with them, and the club being incredibly lax with its members means that there’s potential to switch between the clubs, if wanted. Members aren’t required to come every single time, which allows it to be much more flexible with schedules. The club also collaborates occasionally with the art club, where the two make comics together.

So far, the club has only been able to meet three times during the school year, but each time a mix of new people and new activities have allowed it to thrive each time. With changing activities and new mixtures of people each time, no writing club experience is like the other. However, there are occasionally bigger projects that span over the course of several weeks, such as the movie collaboration with the film and animation club created last year.

And of course, being in the writing club sets you up to get your work submitted into the school’s Eclectic, a collection of student writing, art, and photography. Submitting work many also lead to publication, which is a feat in itself, but anyone who makes it into the Electric also gets a free copy, so it’s a win-win scenario. The writing club provides an easy way to submit and plenty of material to choose from.

Member Emily Duong, when asked about her experience in the writing club, said, “I love that I can just chill and write stories that fit me without a complete guideline of sorts.” There are no real deadlines for work, and having fun while creating is put at the top of the priority list. It’s certainly a great place for anyone who writes, whether they’re a beginner or have been writing for years. Many students already love the positive and lively atmosphere, and for anyone without a club to put on their resume, the writing club would gladly take them in and make sure they had just as much of a great time.