Community Writing Center
Writing Partners are non-profit organizations, government agencies, businesses, and educational institutions that work with the CWC to address their writing needs. This service can be used to empower clients, staff, and volunteers through workshops and individual consulting. Topics range from grant and business writing to creative writing and public service announcements. To inquire about the Writing Partners program please contact Tiffany Rousculp at (801) 957-4992 or submit our inquiry form.
Featured Partner: KUER and This I Believe
|
|  |
Have you ever struggled to define your beliefs? To clearly, firmly and rationally explain your personal philosophies on life, existence, and human purpose? If you have, you’re not alone.
In the 1940s and 50s, America was a nation beset by fears of communism, atomic war, and the loss of values. It was in this political and social upheaval that Senator Joseph McCarthy rose to power. Capitalizing upon the fears of Americans to drive his political ambitions, McCarthy declared that hundreds of card-carrying communists had infiltrated the United States government. Although he was censured by the senate for conduct unbecoming his position, Joseph McCarthy led one of the most repressive times in American history.
In the 1950s, Edward R. Murrow created and hosted a radio program known as This I Believe. Although Murrow said that the purpose of the program was “to point to the common meeting grounds of beliefs, which is the essence of brotherhood and the floor of our civilization,” a subtler drive behind the program was to respond to the “communist witch-hunt” taking place in America. Series Producer Dan Gediman said about the essays heard: “We hear a country moving toward more equality among the races and between genders. We hear parents writing essays that are letters to their newborn children expressing the hopes and dreams they have for them. And we hear the stories of faith that guide people in their daily experiences."
The times in which we live differ from those of McCarthy and Murrow, but just as the purpose behind the This I Believe program was to encourage Americans to search within themselves to discover what they truly believed, National Public Radio (NPR) has revived this program to continue Americans’ search for personal belief. Here at the CWC, we have partnered with KUER to provide radio essay workshops and to encourage all members of our community to submit their own statement of belief. All submitted essays will be featured on the CWC website, and KUER will select a few to be read on air. If you would like to submit to our This I Believe project, we encourage you to:
1. Please limit your essay to fewer than 500 words.
2. Describe an event that shaped your beliefs or a person who inspired them.
3. Avoid sermons and editorials—no soapbox declamations, please!
4. Read more of This I Believe's essay-writing tips.
Learn More About:
- McCarthyism
- NPR's This I Believe series
Past Featured Partners
Chapman Library
| In 1974, inspired by mythological tales and the writing of contemporary fantasy authors, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created a system to build stories around the miniature-figurine wargame, Chainmail. This system developed into the first modern roleplaying game, known today as Dungeons and Dragons or D&D. The game provides individuals the chance to create a story around personalized characters in a shared narrative. Many narratives are started by a pre-written adventure hook, but each story is open enough to allow the characters to take on a life of their own. The adventures of characters such as these have been developed through the imagination of the players at Chapman Branch Library in Salt Lake City. Each week, librarian Sean Carrico assists a group of local teens in the development of an ongoing tale. Recently, however, the pace has slightly changed—the players, interested in creating their own little corner of the D&D world, have given up one game night a month to start the building process. Sean and the Community Writing Center’s Jeremy Remy provide feedback and time for these young writers to inscribe their ideas. Moreover, they assist in giving the tools needed to help write such an epic: discussing the invention ideas, working out character hooks and motives, developing and structuring plot, revision techniques, game design, and editing skills. The writers themselves were already familiar with a variety of character creation tools and the plot-driven storytelling necessary to play Dungeons and Dragons. Their experience as players has helped make them quick to pick up on the methods used to create a story. |
“Every writer,” Jeremy claims, “should take the opportunity to play a roleplaying game. The skills these games can offer are invaluable.”
Creation of the story will be an ongoing experience for the teens this year. Upon completion, they will assist in designing a printed copy of their work to make available to patrons of the library. They will also be submitting their adventure to Wizards of the Coast, publishers of the Dungeons and Dragons game, with the hope of official publication.
Additional Writing Partners
Since opening, the Community Writing Center has partnered with a variety of organizations: