Greetings from the Newbie

Hi, OLL community! My name is Jenelle and I'll be interning here for the summer, which is awesome because I get to work alongside the amazing staff and help gear up for NaNoWriMo.

A little bit about me… I moved here from Massachusetts last August to start my MFA in Creative Writing at Mills College. My specific genre is poetry, but I love learning about every genre. I've had a great first year reading reading lots and lots of books and getting back into a writing routine, which I'm horrible at keeping on my own. (Can anyone relate?)

Before moving to CA, I taught middle school language arts for three years. I also designed and taught a creative writing course one year, and visited schools as a guest teacher in the greater Boston area to spread a love for poetry and creative writing. My favorite lessons use visual art to inspire story. In fact, when I'm in the dungeons of writer's block it is my go-to activity. I rummage through my folder of collected images and pick one to describe, create a story from, or play with what the objects or people in the image might have to say. Do you have any paintings, sculptures, photographs, etc. that have inspired a story for you?

I'm super-excited to be here at the Office of Letters and Light for the summer and am hoping to learn more about writing, editing, and how community writing initiatives can be used to benefit people everywhere—especially students!

Right now I'm working on my thesis, which will be a collection of poetry, but I'm experimenting with craft components of fiction in my work. I'm also gathering ideas for November, when I hope to participate in NaNoWriMo for the first time!

– Jenelle