Jeremy Peng

Writers’ Advocate officers Tanisha Singh (12), Felix Chen (11) and Sydney Ling (12) analyze a mythology-themed poem “Gaea” for entry into the Scholastic Awards. Participants discussed how to use literary devices that communicated the writer’s voice without sacrificing clarity for the reader.

Writers’ Advocate Club hosted its annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards writing workshop during long lunch on Dec. 1 in advance of the competition’s Dec. 11 regional submission deadline.

Club president Sydney Ling (12) and vice presidents Tanisha Singh (12) and Felix Chen (11) workshopped two pieces written by club members in front of seven student attendees. Sydney opened the workshop at 12:50 p.m. with an introduction to the club and advice to the participants on which kinds of works they could enter into the Awards.

“For Scholastic, what has worked for me is to not think too much about it,” Sydney said. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually written anything solely for the competition. I usually just submit what I’ve written in my free time or in my English classes, especially since Harker has a lot of writing assignments built into the curriculum.”

For the next half hour, the officers read club member-submitted work aloud and suggested high-level revisions for structure and language. Attendee Fern Biswas (11) enjoyed the discussion even though their own work did not receive live editing.

“A lot of the advice that was given, like being able to navigate one’s own voice instead of following tropes, is applicable to everybody’s writing,” Fern said. “Overall, I think there was a good balance between discussing the specific Scholastic competition and improving the writing itself.”

The workshop featured a mythology-themed poem, “Gaea,” and a flash fiction piece, “Computer Says No.” Attendee Yena Yu (10) found the choice of unfamiliar genres useful to her own writing.

“When we were analyzing the poem, we talked about the nuance of using imagery that was relatable but not cliché,” Yena said. “I haven’t written a lot of poetry, so that was something I learned that I never knew before.”

While the officers edited only two pieces live, they provided feedback on all writing submitted to them outside of the workshop. Members who shared their pieces with the club indicated whether they preferred to review their writing with the group or receive feedback privately from the officers.

The Scholastic writing workshop marks the first Writers’ Advocate meeting of the school year. Subsequent club activity in the spring typically includes partnerships with other writing projects at school and preparation for the 2024 competition season.