It’s already halfway through the semester and with midterms, finals, projects, homework, presentations and essays, school life can feel like a lot. Fortunately, there are a lot of clubs on campus where students can rest, relax and socialize. Clubs can be a great way to destress, catch up with friends, make new friends and participate in hobbies. An interesting club for those who are in need of some work-life balance is the Creative Writing and Wellness Club.

“I love trying to find wellness and peace in writing,” said April Starr, the president and co-founder of the club. 

Wanting to bring her love for creative writing and psychology together, she and friend Juno Halcomb started the Creative Writing and Wellness Club, an inviting environment where students get together for an hour a week to write on a prompt that stimulates creativity and out-of-the-box thinking while also encouraging self-reflection. Some examples of prompts look like personifying one’s emotions, connecting their lives to a hero’s journey arc or detailing an experience through all five senses. 

“I really liked one of our most recent [prompts] which was ‘The Final Goodbye.’ I wrote about this maiden who had to say goodbye to this sailor. She was very heartbroken,” said Halcomb about her favorite prompt. 

The prompts usually connect an element of fiction with one’s personal life in order to write about things that are close to home while viewing them with some distance.

“Everyone suggests prompts and we take a vote on it, and if we like it, then we do it,” said Aidan Owens, vice president of the Creative Writing and Wellness Club.

The idea of combining creative writing—typically associated with academia, thick and lengthy novels, a writer approaching deadline frantically clacking away at their computer—and wellness—typically associated with green juice, pilates, mildly suspicious diet supplements—may seem like an odd couple at first glance, but on second thought, it makes perfect sense. 

The idea of releasing what’s on one’s mind, exercising creative muscles and sharing your deepest thoughts with a community you trust一all of these naturally contribute to one’s mental health. Science even shows that writing about personal experiences, even for as little as two minutes twice over two days, has tangible health benefits.

“I don’t build up emotions anymore,” Starr said. 

Whether or not the club members choose to share what they’ve written that week, all of them report that the mere act of writing has a positive impact on their lives.

“I think creative writing has helped with my personal growth as it’s a way to express myself, how I feel emotionally,” said Owens. “It really helps me not have an overflowing jar of emotions.

Not only does writing improve one’s relationship with themselves, it can also strengthen relationships with others as everyone gets to learn and trust each other on a deeper level. Helena Rubin, the club’s treasurer, says that the Creative Writing and Wellness Club is a more enjoyable alternative to writing in a diary. 

“It helps me relate to others, if other people are dealing with that same thing, then you’ll feel better about it,” Rubin said.

At the end of the club meeting, everyone had shared their responses to that day’s prompt: What is your dream career? There was a palpable lightness in the air, everyone getting out their thoughts and feelings on the subject, realizing that they weren’t the only ones with the same hopes, questions or uncertainties.

“This is a sense of community, we’re all here, we’re all being vulnerable,” Starr said. 

The Creative Writing and Wellness Club meets in the Club Room every Thursday at 12 p.m. Join their Discord to learn more. 

Follow Khushi Salgia on Instagram @antikhushi or X @khushi_salgia.