Welcome, Writers!

Welcome, friends! It seems fair that I start at the beginning of my writing journey so that we can get to know each other, as I explain why I wanted to create these courses.

Reading and writing were a part of my life from a very young age. I used to read book after book at my Aunt’s house during the day while my parents were at work. I wrote in diaries and journals—I had a lot to say about everything, I guess. In high school, I really became curious to write my own fictional stories, and luckily for me, I had a best friend who was also interested in writing stories. So, we began writing each other stories. Most of our first stories were fan-fiction based on our favorite TV show at the time, Smallville (don’t worry, Sara, these will never see the light of day- as not all writing is meant for that). Even so, eventually our writing evolved and we started developing our own characters and stories.

From there, I followed the path of formal education to learn more about stories and storytelling. I took every creative writing class offered at my high school, and ended up earning a scholarship to study creative writing at Creighton. In college, I changed my major about six times (pre-med, psychology, exercise science, biology, philosophy, emergency medicine-HAHA) before ending up graduating with a (HUGE SURPRISE) Bachelors in English.

After undergrad, surrounded by the panic of my peers and the daunting societal and familial expectation to “get a real job” and “use my degree”, I impulsively got a job as a ….. bank teller (?!??-it is still a mystery to me that I thought this was a good idea, particularly with my English degree)

However, THANKFULLY, the universe had something else in mind. Two months into my monotonous life as a bank teller, I received and email inviting me to join the Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at Creighton in August. I had applied on a whim before graduation, and entirely forgotten. So, I accepted, and happily slid through the escape door (thank you past me!), put my two weeks in at the bank, got a new job as a server/bartender, and prepared to go back to school.

During graduate school, I was immersed in two and a half years of intensive reading, writing, and editing. As the only way to improve writing is by practicing writing, my writing skills were truly taken to the next level during this time. After graduation, I applied for an editing and publishing internship with Brink Literacy Project, formerly known as Tethered By Letters. I was actually denied twice, and encouraged to apply again each time, before being accepted the third time. (Don’t let rejection talk you into giving up, friends!! Sometimes good things can come from perseverance and patience.) After completing the intense internship, I was hired on as a Junior Editor for their journal F(r)iction, where I worked for four years. [[Shout out to Brink Literacy Project and F(r)iction for all that they do, and for all that I learned from them (https://www.brinklit.org/about/).]]

After graduating with my MFA, I also worked as a teacher and tutor at a local community college. It is during my work with these students, that I was first inspired to make this course. My work as a tutor involved individual sessions with students to consult their assignments. Most of the assignments were narrative essays (personal stories), and during this time I had the pleasure of hearing all of these amazing and empowering stories by my students, while helping them to improve their writing. It was also a time of watching these students grow and step further into their own power, as they told these stories of their own lives. This made me realize the true power of storytelling and how many powerful stories go untold, simply because of access and affordability.

Let’s Get Literary was born from all of these events and more. It started as a podcast intended to bring awareness to lesser known publications and authors who are new and emerging, while giving me an excuse to discuss literature over cocktails with friends.

However, after recording a few episodes, our discussions reminded me of all of those untold stories that have not yet been written by all of YOU aspiring writers out there, and I was called to action.

So, if you’re still with me—I know, we English teachers can be long winded—and still want to improve your writing and tell your story, let’s get started!