Columbia Scholastic Press Conference 2013

{Standing in front of the Library of Columbia University}

 

On Monday, I attended Columbia University's Scholastic Fall Press Conference with other staff members of our school's yearbook, newspaper, and literary arts magazine. Although the day started off by sitting in two hours of traffic, the rest of the day was extremely worthwhile.

 

Attendees were able to tour the campus (which is absolutely beautiful, I might add) and go to several workshops instructed by notable professors and speakers.

 

Workshops I attended:

• Nuts and Bolts for Magazines - learn about all of the essential tools needed to create a cohesive and readable literary magazine
• Writing Song Lyrics/Poetry (Inspiration and Craft) - discover how to search for inspiration for your writing in everyday life
• "Journalism Students are Destined to be Poor" and Other Stupid Lies, Debunked - learn about what jobs are available for writers and communicators that won't have you living on the street

The rest of the day was spent eating lunch at a café across the street on 115th Street, and wandering around the campus while clutching a warm drink from Starbucks. We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather as well, a little cold, but certainly better than rain!

 

{Loved the brick pathways leading to each building}

 

John Hampton, the speaker for the Inspiration and Craft workshop, spoke on a subject I had never really thought about before. To begin, he asked everyone to close their eyes and imagine a color they've never seen. It wasn't possible. He went on to say that the most common piece of criticism  a person will receive about their writing is that it is not "original enough". But then, he said, "with only 26 letters in the alphabet, how original can anything really be?" The goal of the writer, he said, should not be to create something new (because like imagining a color you've never seen, it is nearly impossible) but to recreate something - make the reader experience through your writing an event they were not present to see; take a journey you've traveled, and make it tangible for someone else.

 

Film directors, he said, have so many tools at their disposal: a cast, soundtrack, camera angles, sets. An artist, he said, has brushes, pencils, colors, paper. A writer, he said, has words. Only words. Even though there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, there are millions of words that can be used to recreate an event, a story, an emotion. To conclude, Hampton said, "years later, a reader might forget the content of your writing, but they will never forget how it made them feel."



{Sitting here, it was easy to forget you were in the middle of New York City}