This fall, ICA announced the kickoff of Writers Block, a bimonthly forum where students can share creative writing pieces.
Practically, Writers Block looks like this: 30-some students in a WebEx classroom with four student pieces up for presentation (two poems, a chapter from a mystery novel in progress, and the first act from a play). One by one, authors read their work aloud and the group shares their thoughts. I could totally hear the violin in that opening line! I’m curious, why did you chose first person for this? Wow, I want to know what happens next.
Writers Block is an experiment. It started when English teacher Mrs. Clare realized that many ICA students are producing delightful and deep poems, stories, and personal reflections, but with little venue to share them. When she asked students and colleagues to help brainstorm a safe place where writers could encourage each other in their creative endeavors, Writers Block was born.
Below is the “story” behind Writers Block that was presented at the kickoff meeting. It was written by Timothy and features himself (Narrator), fellow student Rose (Commoner), and Mrs. Clare (Fish), all in the box of WebEx.
There once was a girl
Who lived in a world
That was shaped like a box.
She was patient and wise like a fox–
However, she was but a Fish
Who could grant any wish.
These children came to her with questions galore;
But she could handle it no more.
The questions–
The answers.
The writing–
The reading.
The numbers and the logging.
The typing and the speaking.
And it became too much!
With a cloudy mind and an exhausted spirit, she found herself seeking for something more. Oh! Such is the wheel of fate to grant her a Common Companion. She was there! Our Commoner found her there in our box, watching and waiting for something… or someone. Maybe someone to come by and give her a hand, help her up, bring the colors back to her life–give her something to feel… They greeted each other and she was appalled, she was infatuated, she was amazed–our protagonist was lost in a full spectrum of visible color. But then–
Such was the night
When our box became dark;
And he fell upon this world like a sharp, sudden jolt of forbid lightning–
He found himself stuck between four walls yet again.
Our Commoner was curious, yet afraid to see him pacing about.
Then he called out for a greeting; for he was blind to see,
Yet was happy to be welcomed by such voices in an empty box.
They greeted him with sometimes softer voices and sometimes surprised sounds.
He was welcomed with the beautiful sound of a hidden reluctance but still a forward cheer.
Such were the days that lost their numbers;
He found his Company and they found their way to him,
Splashing into our box with newfound shades of visibility.
Just what brought them all together in this box? Was it fate? Was it the cogwheels of destiny? No, it was but a simple… Invitation. An invitation to where children could freely express their minds without fear, where we could walk upon the sky and build cities made of trees, to the land where imaginations flow free and run rampant: the vibrant Shades of Color.
“He” is your Introducer, also known as “Your Humble Narrator.” We’ve put together an outlet for writers and readers and poets and lyricists and artists and daydreamers and also enthusiasts to let their creativity flow from mind to fingertips to pen to paper. Sometimes we all get stuck, mentally or physically or emotionally, and we just can’t think. Our minds do a dumb, we can’t write or draw, and we blank out sometimes–this place in time is like a coffee shop, a place where we go to relieve our Writer’s Block…
By Timothy K.
Writers Block takes place on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 1:00 p.m. (CT). It can be accessed via ICA’s Online Classroom Schedule and is open to all interested students in grades 7-12.