SE lecture prompts creativity in writing

By  Robert Young

Many writers have a great story in them. They just don’t know how to get started, SE students were reminded Nov. 15.

The National Novel Writing Month contest is happening now, and SE Campus has embraced the task with a session every Tuesday in November.

A slideshow presentation intended to get the creative juices flowing was presented to the participants. If they could just put a few words on the page, the story would emerge, they were told.

“Write the next sentence,” the presentation advises. “Your character has to sneeze,” “What is in your protagonist’s wallet?” and “Quick! Change your point of view.”

As the participants start to write, they might come to what many people would refer to as writer’s block. If so, they need only to look up to the slideshow to gain inspiration.

According to library specialist Chelsea Bippert, the workshop is designed “to give people an environment to stimulate their creativity.”

If participants can write 50,000 words without having to worry about editing, grammar or spelling and just be able to concentrate on the initial telling of the story, they can usually get their story out and write their novel, Bippert said. The workshop creates an atmosphere to facilitate this vision, she said.