National Day on Writing was celebrated on campus as a collaboration between major writing advocates on campus, including the “Snow Island Review” art and literary magazine, Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society and the Writing Center.

The event was held on Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Founder’s Hall lawn.  Each group worked to show that writing is an important part of campus culture and is something that can be equally fun and rewarding.

National Day on Writing was held to promote literature and writing in the FMU student body. The participating organizations provided a variety of writing activities as well as free copies of last year’s “Snow Island Review.” Writing prompts included six-word memoirs, two-sentence horror stories and haikus. Participating students’ writings were posted on boards at the event and shared on social media. The writing prompts were intended to promote creativity and writing in a judgment-free zone.

The event included the hashtag #FMUWRITES to share the work via Instagram. It also featured the hashtag #WhyIWrite. Stickers with these hashtags were available to spread awareness for the event and its purpose.

Some professors offered students extra credit for attending the event and sharing their work or posting the event on social media sites.

Trey Brown, senior English major and editor-in-chief of the “Snow Island Review,” said that the event matters to him personally and in his role as editor.

“The National Day on Writing allows us to promote both the journal and general literacy around campus,” Brown said. “On top of that, on a personal level, I hope to be an English professor in my postgraduate career, so I consider this type of work to be an extension of my hope to help students learn English and spread that love around.”

Brown said he has been writing since a young age, and his love has only grown since then.

“I entered a statewide contest at age seven and won in my county with a short, silly poem,” Brown said. “From that point, I guess I got somewhat addicted to the attention, and I like writing things that people enjoy reading.”

Brown said events like this are important because writing is a major part of his life and future.

“I’ve been attached to English closely and I’ve never really stopped writing,” Brown said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to become a professor and teach other students this love of mine one day. Of course, I’d also love to get published, so we’ll see about that one.”

Brown said he believed the event was a success.

“I loved the participation, both in ‘Snow Island Review’ and out,” Brown said. “We got excited and got a lot of students laughing and writing. That’s what we want to see: strong interest and enjoyment when writing.”

Director of the Writing Center and advisor for Sigma Tau Delta Dr. Meredith Reynolds also said she was pleased with the turnout.

“This year’s National Day on Writing was very successful,” Reynolds said. “We had a lot of turnout and participation, and participants seemed to have a lot of fun.”

President of Sigma Tau Delta Catherine Hyman said events like these help get the word out about FMU, and that small steps in writing can help students take further steps.

“Getting FMU’s name out can help the university get more name recognition, which is good for students and alumni,” Hyman said. “National Day on Writing matters to me and to the organization because getting a few words on paper can be the first step to creating confident, passionate writers.”