The University’s Creative Writing program started off the Halloween season with an event called Hallowrite, where writers could dress in Halloween costumes and write whatever came to mind for 24 hours.
Hallowrite’s host, English senior Savannah Wright, said the purpose of the event was to bring attention to the creative writing field.
“[The] creative writing department doesn’t really have a lot of creative writing events, and I feel like a lot of people are interested in creative writing, but are kind of nervous about taking that on as a major because they think they are not going to get a job in it,” Wright said.
At the event, people were able to explore their imagination and write the night away.
The event provided refreshments and writing prompts through the night to keep the writers’ creative juices flowing while the movie “Corpse Bride” was on to keep the writers company.
Writers were encouraged to write about whatever they wanted, but Wright favored spooky stories.
“It is whatever you want,” Wright said. “I’m obviously totally down for people doing Halloween-themed.”
Wright’s personal goal was to encourage people to start writing. Some of the writers who attended Hallowrite were first-time writers working on their own novels.
Hallowrite was not just put on to promote the Creative Writing program but to also raise money. Each writer that participated was encouraged to have a sponsor who would donate a certain amount of money based on the number of words written. All the proceeds will be donated to Book Aid International, a charity that supports education in sub-Saharan Africa.
Wright said her goal for the event was to write 50,000 words. The basic length of a novel. She spent the time working on her young adult sci-fi novel.
“I think that creative writing should be certainly endorsed and definitely celebrated,” Wright said.