JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Since October 2016, Tech. Sgt. Joseph Murray, 11th Force Support Squadron manpower analyst, has hosted creative writing club meetings twice a month at the Joint Base Andrews library.
During each meeting, members come together to express themselves, in writing, in a group setting, as a means to explore their imaginations.
About a week before each meeting, Murray emails club members a specific topic or theme intended to help stir their creativity.
“The topics I send usually relate to a current event or season of the year,” Murray said. “Writing about the topic is optional, and is just meant to help act as a starting point for writing.”
Each meeting begins with some quiet time, during which club members can put their thoughts onto paper. This writing time is followed by a group discussion, an opportunity for members to critique and praise what each other has written.
“I began this club because I want people to write more,” Murray said. “Our meetings give our members a buffered space to get away from their lives to do just that.”
As a manpower analyst, Murray said he writes daily for his job, but the writing is technical in nature and does not scratch his itch for self-expression.
“For years, I’ve been writing poetry and fictional stories,” he said. “Just driving down the road, I’m constantly coming up with interesting things to write about.”
One of the members, Phillip Lake, said he learned of the club, by chance, when he visited the library with his daughter, and noticed the advertisement for the meetings. He has attended most of them since they began in October.
“I find that creative writing with the club helps relieve stress,” Lake said. “The meetings provide a positive environment to be creative. It’s very entertaining to hear what others write about.”
The creative writing club meetings are open to all, and occur on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
“We get a mix of people who attend: civilians, military, adults and younger people,” Murray said. “Some of our members are authors who use our meetings to generate ideas or help finish their stories.”
Individuals interested in learning more about the creative writing club can contact the library at andrewsbaselibrary@gmail.com or by phone, 301-981-6454.