The Writing Center fluttered with furious writing as students enjoyed the Golden Hour creative writing session on Feb. 6 after school.

The new event was hosted by both the Filament and the Writing Center in hopes of giving students an environment to serve as a creative writing outlet.

“It is nice for students to have a space where they can write creatively. They don’t always have to do that in English class and it is rare to have that opportunity,” English teacher Justina Butera said.  “It is also a good  chance for them to share their work with others and be in a community with others in which otherwise they would not be around.”

Students have taken a great enjoyment for the event, and are excited for future events. The Golden Hour has allowed students to focus on creative writing rather than structured writing they are used to in their classes.

“I really like the event because it gave me an opportunity to just sit down and really get creative which is something I don’t usually get to enjoy in my classes,” senior Omna Tedla said.

They plan to have the event to continue every month for students to have an hour of their day dedicated for creative work. While writing students are offered pizza and given the opportunity to collaborate with peers on their work.

“Writing is a very lonely  activity, but you do it alone and there is not a lot of payoff. That is why having a community of writers is very important because everyone there with the same  struggle. We have many distractions, but if we know other people are working on their own projects you get inspired,” English teacher and Filament sponsor Soo Jin Lee said. “It really should be shared building a story an developing a voice and I think it is really important to share.”

They hope that the event will also help increase submissions into the Filament for their annual magazine. During the event, students were encouraged to submit not only their writing, but artwork to the Filament to be featured in their magazine. Also, the event serves as exposure to student who may not know of the Writing Center’s services.

“I really hope it attracts new members, but even if you are not in the club, writing is just a good skill to have,” Filament Co-Editor in Chief Ephrata Yohannes said. “Literally just submitting to the magazine and participating in  writing in any way is helpful because you are going to need it in your life.”

The Golden Hour is the first event in which Writing Center and Filament have collaborated in an effort to get more writing organizations coordinating with each other.

“I would have killed for an opportunity like this in high school. I have always loved creative writing and once I started getting into high school level of English, the opportunities for creative writing were less and less. I wish I could do more even as a teacher, so I would jump at the opportunity to  come and have a set time to do and see people write,” Writing Center advisor Stephanie Hanson said.