“Loud and Proud” written by Carlin James, Indiana Writers Center intern and Ball State University student.
“Write Loud and Proud!”
The refrain you hear during a session at the Saint Florian Center held at Charity Dye School 27 is “Write loud and proud!” This is something the Indiana Writers Center repeats to the students to instill a sense of confidence and importance about the power of their words. As each session passes, I notice that not only are these kids reading and writing loud and proud, but they are living loud and proud.
Now this is not something that is expected of them considering everything they have endured this past year. These kids have lost family members, adjusted to learning online, grown distant from their friends due to quarantine, and experienced both historical and painful social justice events. Through their writing, they are able to process these complex events as a group, reminding each other that they are not alone.
Author’s Chair
My favorite part of our time with the kids is when they are able to read their work aloud to their peers during Author’s Chair. It is amazing how vulnerable they are willing to be in front of each other. As someone who loves to write myself, I have always struggled to confidently share my work with others. Being vulnerable is challenging, but the students at Saint Florian do it with ease.
The kids are also extremely supportive of each other. At the end of each Author’s Chair, they are given the opportunity to ask the author questions and tell them what they liked about their story. After one student read a story about a family member passing away, one of their peers raised their hand and said, “thank you for sharing that with us.” This support system of peers who have gone through the same difficult experiences is exactly what each of them has needed after this past year.
Don’t Write Perfect, Write from the Gut
I also think the action of writing with a pencil on paper has been extremely cathartic for them. When schools transitioned to e-learning, the students were staring at a screen all day and typing rather than writing. Physically picking up a pencil or a pen establishes a sense of normalcy the students have desperately longed for.
The best part about the kind of writing they do with us is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. In school, the students are graded on spelling, punctuation, and grammar, but at Saint Florian, they are not graded on anything. As long as they write and tell their story, we are happy. We tell them that we are their editors, but they are the writers. And only they can tell the stories they have in their hearts and guts.
This is the best method to fuel creative thinking because they don’t have to concentrate on anything other than their feelings, the scene, the plot, and the “characters” in their memoir. For many, this writing they are doing with us is the first time they have been able to release the emotions that have been weighing on their minds, on their hearts, and sitting hard in their guts.
After going through so much in just one year, these students have handled it all with grace and resilience. If these students can write, speak, and live loud and proud, then we all can too.