How many times have you seen those flyers posted up in the Humanities building and wondered ‘Just what is this Writer’s Guild?’

Writer’s Guild was formed in the fall of 1996, when Mrs. Anna Clark came across a group of former Governor’s School students sitting in a hallway of the Humanities building writing and discussing writing. When she discovered what it was they were doing and that they were meeting once a week, she asked a young man named Joseph Watson to come and speak with her.

“I mentioned to him that if he and his friends were serious about meeting regularly and if they needed a place to meet,” explained Mrs. Clark, “I could speak with others in the English Department about using the Writing Center as a meeting place.”

Mrs. Clark also suggested that they become an official student organization. When all the paperwork was filled out, Writer’s Guild was born. Joseph Watson was the group’s first president and Mrs. Clark was their first advisor.

To this day, Writer’s Guild still fulfills the same purpose. It offers students a chance to meet together each week to write and discuss one another’s writing.

“I come to Writer’s Guild because all of my friends are here,” says Sandy Tolar, a freshman English major from Union City. “We talk abut writing and have a lot of fun.”

A typical meeting starts with the current president, Crystal Zanders, talking about the agenda. One of the important topics this week in the anthology, which is a collection of short stories and poems written by members of the Writers’ Guild that is published each year. Mrs. Clark then publishes enough copies for each member, plus a few extra. Dr. Leslie LaChance, the group’s other advisor, then talked about the upcoming trip to McKenzie to hear an author speak.

After all the business has been dealt with, it’s time to write. Crystal reads out three different prompts to spark the writer’s imaginations. The three she used on this night were ‘fire-breathing dragon’, ‘blind man’s pictures’ and ‘experimental tyranny.’

For the next ten to fifteen minutes, the only sounds you hear are the scratching of pens on paper, the occasional snicker of someone who’s just written something clever and shuffling paper.

Finally, it’s time to read. Everyone has the opportunity to share what they’ve written. Someone reads a poem they wrote about a blind man’s pictures. Another reads the poem they wrote about the frustration they have with their church’s Christmas play set to the experimental tyranny theme. Then there’s a short story stemming from the blind man’s pictures prompt. Finally, a poem from the fire-breathing dragon prompt that sends the reader into tears. After each piece, the other members of the group snap to show their approval.

The only “requirements” to being in Writers’ Guild is having an interest in writing. “Unwritten in our constitution but understood by each of us are these words: acceptance, respect and appreciation,” explains Mrs.Clark. “We don’t “tear apart” each other’s work; we read, we share, we appreciate and we grow as writers.”

Writer’s Guild meets at 7:15 p.m. every Thursday night in the Writing Center, room 209 in the Humanities building. There will be no meeting this week due to a trip the group is taking, but everyone is invited to attend.

“I really enjoy getting together with like-minded people to write,” says Laura Hensley, a freshman English major from Savannah, TN. “It gives me an outlet that I don’t get otherwise.”