Say Hello To Our New Tutors

Welcome back, Writing Center family! It’s me, Annie, logging in to continue our “Fast Facts About The Writing Center” series! This week, I want you to get to know our new tutors here at the Writing Center. We welcomed in twelve new faces this semester, all from different fields and writing specialities. They, like the rest of the Writing Center staff, are beyond excited to help you succeed and grow as a writer. I’ll introduce six of these new tutors to you below, and six more tutors in a few weeks!

Amy Atwood is studying English Literature and her goal is to become a bestselling author.

Who is your greatest writing influence?

My greatest writing influence is L.J. Shen. She writes fictional romance books for Young Adults. I hope to one day write a romance book that makes people feel the way hers make me feel.

What is your favorite word?

My favorite word is “serendipity” because it sounds really pretty and I like the meaning of it. It’s defined as,“The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.”

Elijah Cardenas is studying English Writing with a minor in Business. His dream is to publish poetry.

If your writing process could be analogized into a movie, what movie would it be?

I would analogize my writing into the movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". The character's pull between the routine of the everyday world and feeling trapped in it versus the adventure and passion of the great unknown outside his office windows speaks to what my writing process has often been and continues to be.

What is your favorite word?

One of my favorite words is "enraptured", which is the positive feeling of being so caught up in something that everything else in the world fades away. Along with being a beautiful word in its own right, "enraptured" reminds me of the passion I can sink myself into when I write or spend time with the people I love.

Rachel Faulk is majoring in English Writing with minors in Spanish and TESOL. She hopes to become a novelist.

What are some of your favorite words?

I’m definitely a logophile and appreciate all kinds of words, whether it’s just unusual words that look cool or are fun to say (like syzygy or floccinaucinihilipilification), intriguing words with interesting meanings (like fey or quixotic), archaic words like you encounter in Shakespeare (like forsooth or perchance), or poetic words from other languages (like aletheia, the Greek word for truth).

What is your favorite style of writing?

I have always enjoyed creative writing the most. I love how it’s much more informal, and even within the genre of creative writing there’s freedom to explore using different writing styles to tell a story. I just find it more fun than academic writing.

Sarah Jarrell is studying Interdisciplinary Studies and hopes to be the author of a child psychology journal for elementary school teachers.

If your writing process could be analogized into a movie, what movie would it be?

If my writing process could be analogized into a movie, it would definitely be Before I Fall. In short, the movie is about a young girl that dies in a car crash and relives her death every day until she can find a way to save herself. The movie is mostly about the girl going through each day trying something new to prevent her death. It's all trial and error. I would say that this is a great representation of my writing process, because I find myselfing writing whole pages, rereading them, deleting portions, and trying again.

What is your favorite style of writing?

My favorite style of writing is free writing fictional pieces. I enjoy the creativity and passion that goes into writing those types of pieces. Free writing short stories helps me to express the thoughts and feelings that can sometimes get jumbled in my brain with all of the other information I consume on a daily basis.

Morgan Miller is studying English Writing with a minor in Marketing. She strives to one day be an editor for a major publishing company.

Who is your greatest writing influence?

I have a lot of writing influences, but the greatest would be Markus Zusak. The way he uses language to tell a story is unlike anyone else in terms of style and intentionality. He’s the kind of writer I dream of being, so he’s definitely influenced me over the years.

If your writing process could be analogized into a movie, what movie would it be?

If my writing process could be analogized into a movie, I would pick Inception. Like that film, my writing is very image-based and feeling-focused. It can be intricate and sometimes confusing, but eventually, it gets where it needs to go. A long undertaking of a simple idea to make people understand something.

Allie Claire Townsend is studying Elementary Education with endorsements in English and Social Studies. She aspires to obtain a Doctorate of English Education and teach at a college level.

Who is your greatest writing influence?

My greatest writing influence is my 10th grade English teacher, Mrs. Brenda Sasser. Growing up, I had always enjoyed reading and writing, but I especially loved writing my own stories as a young child. Throughout my school years, I had many opportunities to write short stories, but high school changed that. As I progressed into formal writing, Mrs. Sasser was my guide. She helped instill in me the “10 Sins of Writing,” those virtues have always stuck with me. Now, as both a fiction writer and a formal paper author, I credit Mrs. Sasser with my love of writing. Without her teaching and guiding me, I would not be the writer I am today.

What is your favorite style of writing?

My favorite style of writing is narrative because I love writing stories. As a young child I loved to write stories in class because it gave me a reason to “stay in my own world.” I still write some short stories as a hobby and I one day plan to write a novel. A close second to narrative is expository. I enjoy cooking and sharing recipes, so I also want to write a cookbook.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know our new tutors, and I can’t wait to introduce you to more of our new staff in just a few weeks!