To me, naming characters is an important part of writing a story. Do you feel the same? I always want to find names that will fit my characters to a T. Many of my stories are set 120+ years ago. People back then didn’t have modern names like Aiden or Zoey. They did, however, have…
My father always pleads with me to show him my writing. Whether it’s a short poem I was describing to him, or a story that I submitted for publication. He’s always been my number one supporter, and after I—reluctantly—shared two poems with him, he looked at me, stunned, and asked, “How do you come up…
In August 2021, I had been considering switching one of my current courses to our high school’s “Intro to Creative Nonfiction” course. I loved creative writing, and I could get college credit for it. I signed myself up and began counting the days until the second semester, when the course would start. Really, I thought…
When I was little, I would make music out of the sonnets I scribbled in the margins of my geometry homework. I painted lyrics across the cloudy skies outside my bedroom window and drew light from the most mundane of surroundings. I made music with the only chords I knew on guitar: the sunniness of…
You have to learn the rules before you break them. That was, at least, my fifth-grade teacher’s defense of the writing curriculum taught to younger students. You can only return stronger if you leave in the first place. My experience with writing has always been a little counter to my age. Of course, my skills…
I have a secret to confess: I am a writer who is apprehensive and at times quite petrified of sharing my work. It has felt as if I were living in a paradox from the moment I began to become more passionate with my writing. How could I both desire to create an impact on…
I feel like associating the words “evil” and “change” is dramatic and over-exaggerated on my part, but what is the world without a little bit of drama? The villainous, annoying, and anxiety-inducing realm of Change has motivated me, deterred me, terrified me, and embraced me throughout my life. In high school, I thought that having…
Vulnerability has been a theme of my life these days so I’d like to be honest with you: I was nervous walking in the doors of Red Bank Middle School on my first day of teaching. I wasn’t teaching on my own—not by any means—but entering a new environment with entirely new people made me…
As writers, we understand the rush we experience when working on our craft—the energy we feel when we get into a movement and then look up at the clock and see it’s an hour later and we’ve lost track of time. These are some of the best parts of writing. Recently, the mental health benefits…
This past summer, we had the honor of working with a group of talented teens as part of our Teen Internship Program. Two dozen teens volunteered their time assisting in our summer camps or interviewing and documenting the stories of Red Bank seniors and other notable citizens for “The Interview Project.” I loved every minute…