Student Reflections on the MFA-Led Community Writing Workshop

Earlier this summer we featured the exciting news that our very own MFA students, Julie Webb (poetry) and Neeru Nagarajan (fiction), have been leading free creative writing workshops for community members each Monday evening at Wood County Library in downtown Bowling Green. As the summer workshop series is coming to a close, with the final fiction workshop set for Monday July 8th, we wanted to share thoughts and reflections on the workshop experience from one of the attendees!

Emma Bohney, daughter of third-year doctoral student in Rhetoric and Writing, Brandie Bohney, attended a June workshop with Neeru to further explore her interest in writing fiction. As a sophomore at Perrysburg High School, Emma is an involved and motivated student and was more than happy to talk a bit about her experience working with Neeru and her thoughts about writing.

Q: What made you decide to attend the recent fiction workshop at the Wood County Library?

I really enjoy writing, and have always liked going to writing workshops. It related to something I was interested in, and I had good experiences with other workshops in the past. It seemed fun. Also, I know Neeru, so I thought it would be great to go to a workshop led by her.

Q: What did you do during the workshop? Did you write anything you are excited about?

We did one or two prompts for stories, but we mostly wrote about and discussed the projects we’ve been working on and strategies/techniques for writing. I really liked this approach. It was different from other workshops I’ve been to, where we mostly wrote based on story starters. I think that this method is more effective, though, because it helps you to improve on your writing instead of just starting stuff.

Q: What do you like about creative writing?

I like that creative writing what I like about reading fiction: it allows me to delve into a fictional universe with my mind. It allows me to meet new people and experience new things. Even better, it allows me to share my creativity with other people.

Q: Is English/writing your favorite subject in school? If so, why? If not, what is your favorite?

English/writing is not my favorite subject in school. I love reading and writing, but I feel like ELA classes almost always fall short of my love-driven expectations. My favorite subject is social studies.

Q: What would you say to someone who was considering attending a community writer’s workshop?

Do it!